My computing world has been thrown a few curve balls the past few months.  First, I lost IwantSandy.com.  I am still smarting from that one.  Last week I learned I am losing a second tool I love, The Google Notebook.

The Google notebook is not going away, Google is simply going to stop developing it so, over time, it will be phased out.

I used the Google Notebook to “clip” items I found on the web for future use.  I would copy quotes, pictures, a paragraph from an article, and more.  This was kind of a dumping ground for me to stick items to shop for, sermon ideas, rough drafts for blog posts, etc.  I used it every day.

So I have been on the search for a replacement.  Thus far, the winner seems to be Evernote.

Evernote has a free basic plan as well as a pay plan.

Evernote has a couple of features I really like.

1.  The ability to email a note in.  I have used this for books that people recommend, phone numbers, and things like that on the go.  I do this via my Blackberry but you could text message it in, too.  Just set up the Evernote email you are provided with as a conact on you cell phone.

2.  A decent mobile web interface.  I have heard the Iphone folks rave about the Iphone app.  I however am a Blackberry guy and all they have is a simple mobile web page.  It is okay…better than the Google Notebook mobile page, but not a powerhouse.  It is good at simple capture of text but is sometimes difficult to edit.

3.  If you are a Google notebook person, they have an importer that looks easy.  I will be doing this soon.

4.  The web clipper is really good.  Probably better than the Google Notebook’s is/was.

A couple of things I don’t like.

1.  I am worried it will go the way of any of other web apps some day and leave me high and dry.

2.  I think if I were to use it a bunch I would not qualify for their free plan and I could see surpassing the 40mb bandwidth limit fairly quickly.  The pay plan is $45 a year.  If they ever come up with a Blackberry app, I might pay it.

3.  Saving and editing notes seems to require an extra step.  In the Google notebook I used to be able to click on a note and be editing it and having it autosaved right away.  In Evernote, I have to hit the edit button…edit my note…and then save it.  The times I have goofed and started to exit without saving it, Evernote on the web prompts me to save so I don’t lose things, but it still requires an extra step.

Finally, there are a couple of features that Evernote has that look interesting.  First, an OCR feature in pictures so as you save pictures with text in them you are supposed to be able to find them later.  This feature is for desktop clients.  (It is supposed to work for hand writing, too.) Second, Evernote has a desktop client.  I have not loaded it but it looks like it may be slick.  I will probably play with it.  Third, for premium users (aka, those that pay.), you can sync files across computers.  I am syncing with Dropbox so have not felt the need for that feature.

If my writing has not helped you figure out Evernote, check out the overview video.

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