EverNote (www.evernote.com) is one of those ingenious software ideas that comes along ever so often and offers a totally new perspective on day-to-day life. In its simplest terms, EverNote is an online software database for collecting and storing any information that comes into your life — at least any information that can be digitized.
You can use EverNote like a massive digital scrapbook, collecting clippings, text files, e-mails, images and Web content– basically anything that can be rendered into digital format. But that’s just the beginning: EverNote allows you to tag each item entered into the database, and categorize it according to any number of self created folders.
EverNote also applies an automatic timestamp to each item entered, and Geo tags where applicable. Over time, users can create a huge library of information, with an unlimited number of categories that can each be cross-referenced. Every item entered into your EverNote database becomes easily searchable by content, tags, timestamp and category, making it easy to track down even the most obscure bits of information you have saved.
The user interface of EverNote is also quite clever, and allows the user to scroll vertically through their virtual notebook, or select any date on the calendar bar to jump to that point in time and view all information entered on that date. There are also several different ways to search and sort information within the program, and “to do” lists can be easily created by selecting an unobtrusive box next to each item.
But probably the most amazing feature about EverNote is its built-in digital image and handwriting recognition program. In its simplest terms, this allows any text within a digital photo (whether from the Web or your personal camera) to become part of your searchable database. For example, if you have a vacation photo of a sign saying “Welcome to the Canada,” those words would be recognized by the program and would be instantly searchable in your database — pretty cool, huh?
It’s not difficult to see how this technology could have very practical applications. For example, you could take a picture with your camera phone of a great little restaurant you find hidden among the back streets of Boston’s theatre district. Then just upload the photo to your EverNote database, and both the name of the restaurant and its geographic location become instantly searchable within your EverNote database.
Of course, there are millions of other uses for this technology, including categorization and organization of complex data for businesses purposes (keeping track of customers or orders, for example). And because EverNote is an online program, it is compatible with both Windows and Mac, and can be accessed from anywhere you may find yourself in the world. As long as there is an Internet connection, your “digital life” will be right there waiting for you.
Related Business Directory Categories:
