I Was Wrong, The Day I Let Go of Evernote
There is always a silver lining. Let’s trust the company and our workflow.
I have heard so many people tell me they are fed up with Evernote. I've listened to many concerns in talking with Evernote users and former users.
“I don’t like the way the tags work. Why can’t I change the color of my notebooks? I need dictation.” — The list of such complaints continues.
Are you done with Evernote?
The truth is, no company is immune from criticism, and even though the number of users continues to skyrocket, the internet is full of complaints, and they usually end with ‘I’m done with Evernote.’ — including myself a few months back.
Hey, that’s your choice.
Over the years, Evernote has had its share of critics; frankly, at various times in its history, they were well deserved.
The Phil Libin Era.
It was one of those periods I call the Phil Libin era.
He was the CEO; he left in 2016. Under his tenure, the company started branching out with things like Evernote Sketch and Evernote Food.
Yeah, Evernote Food.
The company was just off on a tear, and many consumers just got confused.
Some features were only available to paying customers. I get that, but it also made a difference if you were using the web application, an Apple product, or a different service. It just got confusing.
Then, there was the quiet period from about 2015 to 2017. There was only one major redesign of the app.
Evernote was still gaining subscribers, but the app was losing steam, and competitors came on the scene.
That’s where many people came out of the woodwork saying, ‘I’m leaving Evernote for this other service.’
Have Your Say: Evernote’s Listening.
Ian Small became the new CEO and stabilized the company’s finances, and that quieted some who believed that Evernote could not survive financially.
Small and his team were also listening. They focused on developing new features that people were asking for.
In its recent history, the company cleaned up those different platforms, so you have the same features on any device. They created a robust task function, so you can track your to-do’s and store your notes in Evernote.
Plus, you can set up reminders for recurrent tasks.
They’re now working with Google, so your calendar can integrate with Evernote, using Boolean terms to refine search results, which has put their search function on a whole new level.
You can export notes as PDF files. You get the idea. A lot of new things are happening and a lot of exciting features, from my point of view.
But people still have their complaints. It reminds me of the people in a nearby town complaining that there weren’t enough parks.
So, the city built a park, and then people complained that no playground equipment existed. Equipment was installed, and you guessed it, others complained that there was nothing for older kids to do.
You can’t make everybody happy.
My Impressions on Evernote.
Unlike other companies, Evernote employees follow the online forum where people ask questions and make suggestions.
If you have an idea for a new feature or concern, I suggest you post it at discussion.evernote.com.
The team does read your post. There’s no guarantee that they will immediately drop what they’re doing and follow your suggestion, but it doesn’t hurt to make that suggestion known. Personally, there are things I don’t like about Evernote.
Now, I have my wish list.
The program could be better, but I use it daily because it is still the best app of its kind and allows me to be more efficient than if I used any other system.
But that’s my opinion; your mileage may vary.
