Simplenote

Hello. This week on the eduAnalytics Blog, I am going to review the Web 2.0 Productivity Tool called Simplenote. This presentation was done using TechSmith's Jing application and hosted on their very own Screencast servers.

The viewing area for the presentation (below) is a bit small (640x480), so please click HERE if you would like to see a larger version of it.



Below is a TRANSCRIPT of the presentation:

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Hello. My name is Greg Jonason and this is another Web 2.0 Tool Review.

I am recording this video using TechSmith's Jing application. This is my first time doing this using Jing, so please bear with me.

The name of the Web 2.0 Productivity Tool that we are going to look at for today is one of my favorites. It's called Simplenote.

The URL for the tool is http://simplenoteapp.com

To sign in or sign up for a free Simplenote account, just click on the sign in or "Create an account" buttons in the upper-right corner of your browser or iOS mobile device.

I have a premium account which costs me a whopping $20.00 per year. I used the free one one for about a year before I switched. I haven't noticed much difference between the two other than the ads.

Since this is a demo, I am going to sign in with my account.

The primary category for Simplenote is definitely a Productivity Tool.

Simplenote is a text-only cloud-based application that runs within a browser or on your iOS applications.

This means that I can jot something down on my iPhone on my way to class.

When I get to class and take out my iPad, my note is right there.

To me, Simplenote is a cloud-based stream of consciousness memory or idea recording application.

Since the web is not sophisticated enough yet to do complicated audio searches, Simplenote is a great way to have a text-based store of all your thoughts or class notes or todo lists or whatever you want.

It's with you all of the time and it's searchable, so no more opening folders or trying to remember what you named a document.

The only skills you need to use this application are basic web surfing skills, the ability to type

You do need a desktop or a laptop, an Internet connection, and an iOS device or two if you want this to be a pretty seamless part of your life.

In order to use it, all you need to do is press the plus sign to create a new Simplenote.

Type in what you want.

Take me to your leader.

Then walk away.

It's that easy. You can create your own original tags and share the document with others via email.

Let's take a look at some of the more advanced features now.

There is the "Trash" icon for tossing away unwanted notes along with "Version History" and "Sharing".

If you click on the "i" icon, the options "Pinned to Top" and "Markdown Formatted" options are available. Pinned notes are listed before other notes. and Markdown extensions are supported. To find out more about Markdown, go to http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/

You might want to use this application in a teaching environment to teach your students to have better note taking skills. Although this is a simple exercise, it is indeed an invaluable skill and incorporating a cloud-based application like Simplenote makes the illustration of its value even more practical.

The advantages of Simplenote are that you can bring it with you anywhere. What's even better is that once you sync your device with what is stored on the servers at Simplenote, you have a local copy of all of your notes and ideas right there on your device.

The web application can run kind of slow though, especially if you have a ton of notes like I do. The iOS device apps run a lot faster. ANother downside is that if you have an Android phone or Blackberry, you're out of luck.

I would recommend this tool to others, however, you can have more capabilities than just text with other apps like Bento and Evernote, but that's another Web 2.0 Productivity application review that I don't have time for right now.

Take care and I hope you enjoyed my review of Simplenote.

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