Entitled "Ahead of Its Time, Behind the Curve: Why Evernote Failed to Realize Its Potential."

https://usefyi.com/evernote-history/

Interesting piece. That screen shot of an early (first?) edition of Evernote on Windows was a hoot. Using a handwriting font to make it look like Evernote 1.0 supported handwriting. So retro.

I cringe whenever I see a new report that Evernote's future is uncertain (or grim). If they do go belly-up, I hope they give us enough lead time to migrate to another system. What are the alternatives that have Evernote's functionality?

I would not want to see Evernote die.

But, on the other hand, I've never had a case where a developer, without warning, vanished or went out of business and their app simultaneously and immediately stopped working and my data were unretrievable.

(Web-only apps and Circus Ponies and its execrable developer being the outliers here.)

Even Bento still launches seven years after Apple up and abandoned it. The 64-bit thing is about to catch up with Bento and it will stop in 6 - 12 months. But the app itself is still usable today.

I actually fondly remember that version of Evernote. I liked the scrolling roll of notes on the timeline. I wish someone would bring that format back to note-taking.

Steve Z

Paul Korm wrote:

Interesting piece. That screen shot of an early (first?) edition of
Evernote on Windows was a hoot. Using a handwriting font to make it
look like Evernote 1.0 supported handwriting. So retro.

Jeffery Smith wrote:

I cringe whenever I see a new report that Evernote's future is uncertain
(or grim).

The CEO was pushed out last October, just a couple of weeks after the simultaneous exit of Evernote’s Chief Technology Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Product Officer and SVP of Human Resources - plus the layoffs of 15% of the workforce.

And back in 2015 Evernote fired 18% of its workforce, shut down three of its 10 global offices, and replaced its long-time CEO Phil Libin with former Google exec Chris O’Neill (the guy who got fired this past October).

So I think uncertainty is probably justified right now.

Circus Ponies came to mind, and there didn't seem to be many developers who jumped in with a replacement. Neo sort of disappeared below the radar for a few years, and Bento plotzed without warning. And we all remember Netmanage's Ecco. Fortunately, Ecco seemed to be fine running under Windows for a very long time.

This is the classic example of mis-guided brand extension that robs the core business of its momentum and position. It happens very often, but no one manages to learn from it.

As the article states, Evernote simply it isn't nearly as good as it should be given the length of time it has been developed and the unprecidented capital behind it. That is my experience. I use it for quickly stowing information, but I can't remember the last time I opened it, created a note and started writing. The Windows and Mac apps finally have a similar look and feel, but the web app might as well be an altogether different application.

Having said that, I am always able to quickly find any information I've stored in Evernote... once I figure out where the seach icon is.

Steve Z

I was once a believer in Evernote. THEY quit believing in Evernote. I finally found my peace by finally leaving Evernote behind and have been a very happy camper using Nimbus Note Pro. I have no idea why this well-maintained every-platform-imaginable application isn't better known. Give the free version a spin - I went with Pro shortly after and absolutely LOVE it.
https://nimbusweb.me/note.php
https://nimbusweb.me

How is search in Nimbus compared to Evernote? Can it search in attached PDFs as well? How good is the web clipper?

Nimbus Note looks as if someone went back to where Evernote started to drift and built from there. It looks nice - I'm not sure if I'll use it one term because I'm embedded in DevonTHINK, but it's certainly worth a look. Thanks

Donovan wrote:

I was once a believer in Evernote. THEY quit believing in Evernote. I
finally found my peace by finally leaving Evernote behind and have been
a very happy camper using Nimbus Note Pro. I have no idea why this
well-maintained every-platform-imaginable application isn't better
known. Give the free version a spin - I went with Pro shortly after and
absolutely LOVE it.
https://nimbusweb.me/note.php
https://nimbusweb.me

More on Evernote's struggles in today's NY Times:

A Unicorn Lost in the Valley, Evernote Blows Up the ‘Fail Fast’ Gospel

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/business/evernote-what-happened.html

Jeffery Smith wrote:

What are the alternatives that have
Evernote's functionality?

Has anybody tried to replace Evernote by Notion? I've just noticed their promo: 'Tired of Evernote? Say hi to Notion'
https://www.notion.so/evernote
and wonder whether it is something worthy of trying?

We've discussed Notion several times on the site; you might want to do a search.

Personally I find it fiddly and requiring regular pruning and maintenance, as I would any personal Wiki app (which it effectively is). FYI there's an active subreddit for it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NotionSo/