A whole new world!!!

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Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Dec 28, 2011 at 09:33 PM

Okay, I know that admitting that until now I didn’t have a modern mobile device will make me seem like a Luddite, but I just got an iPod Touch and am very impressed by the wide world of apps, and how I can sync these between my various machines. In typical CRIMP fashion I installed several apps that duplicate many functions:

Everyone of these apps is terrific. I don’t need all of them, of course (but I always only NEED 10% of the software I have at my disposal). Each app has its own advantages.

Here’s a quick rundown of my findings so far:

Evernote: Of course it is great. With it I can keep a bunch of notes sync’d between my iPod, my Windows office computer and my MacBook. Drawbacks are that it doesn’t have reasonable export function. Also, it isn’t a task manager.

Carbonfin Outliner: A nice outline application that doubles as a simple task manager. Syncs quickly with a web-based version, so I can access and edit my outlines on either of my computers… much easier to write and edit on a computer than on the iPod.
http://carbonfin.com/index.html

Notebooks: A full-featured notes manager that also adeptly handles task management. I’m finding it a bit complex, and not real easy to use on the iPod. I suspect this is a killer app on the iPad.
http://www.alfonsschmid.com/Notebooks/Notebooks_for_iPhone_-_Overview.html

Awesome Notes: Surprisingly a very handy application that combines note, task, and calendar functions in an attractive and mostly intuitive interface. I like the look of its folders. Also, syncs with Evernote, creating its own notebooks.
http://www.bridworks.com/anote/en/iphone/features/index.php

Bento: I use the full application on my MacBook and with the app for iPod I am able to keep my structured data at hand all the time. Data syncs wirelessly between my MacBook and the iPod.

MacJournal: Sort of the same as Bento, except instead of structured data, I’ve got access to my journals.

Of all these apps, the one I had most been looking forward to trying is Notebooks, but ironically, it is probably going to be the first to fall by the wayside. If I could only have one app, it might be Notebooks, but the other apps handle anything Notebooks seems to, and more intuitively for me.

Anyway, I wanted to share my experience in case anyone else is in my situation, or planning to be some time soon.

Steve Z.

Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Dec 28, 2011 at 11:37 PM

BTW, I also meant to ask if anyone has any other suggestions or experience with these apps. Thanks!

Steve Z.

Posted by Gorski
Dec 29, 2011 at 01:26 AM

I’d recommend using Dropbox, which integrates with a number of apps, including GoodReader, a personal favorite. I also use PDF Reader more to make PDFs from iPhone snapshots of documents than to read PDFs. Instapaper is also great for saving articles online for reading on an iPhone or Touch. For writing and synching text files among multiple computers via Dropbox I like PlainText, a nice text editor.

Posted by Gorski
Dec 29, 2011 at 01:30 AM

I should make clear that with PlainText (and similar apps) you can type in a text document on your iPhone or Touch and it will immediately be synched with all computers where you have Dropbox installed.

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