Enhancing Desktop Computing with the Cloud
There is a lot of (rightfully so) hype around cloud computing and web based tools. One area, that I find very interesting which gets very little coverage is desktop computing with support in the cloud. There are three tools that I use all the time which marry a desktop experience which is enhanced in the cloud.
Three Great Tools
Evernote - (Mac & PC) "Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from anywhere". I primarily enter notes on my MBP, but since it will sync itself across multiple devices it is very to retrieve those notes when I am on a PC. In addition, there is a web based access and a new iPhone specific interface. What really sets Evernote apart from other software (OneNote) are the options for adding notes (dragging images, printing directly to it, copy and paste with images). In addition, if making your content accessible wasn't enough, images are processed with OCR. What this means is that when you do a search you are not only searching text, but potentially text from your images. Video Overview.
Skitch - (Mac only) "Skitch.com is a webservice that works hand in hand with our application Skitch to give you 1-click uploading of images for fast and fun image sharing". I have mentioned Skitch before. This tool just rocks and of the three tools I am writing about today, it is the one I would be totally lost without. It makes it so simple and easy to share an a screenshot/picture/image I am not sure what I would do without. And of course, it works flawlessly with Evernote. Video Overview.
Jing - (Mac & PC) Jing allows you in an effortless way capture images and video of your desktop and share them with the world (or privately). Since I am a Skitch fan, I do not use the image sharing often, but the video feature has become an integral part of our software development process. Video Overview
One Annoying Thing
There is one thing these three tools/services have in common that annoys the hell out of me. All of them are currently in beta and free to use. I fully expect they will all at some point charge for their software and services. I have zero problems paying for great software, especially for software I find as useful as these three tools. However, all three of the companies behind these tools have been very quite about their future intentions. I suspect all three will be reasonably priced, but it definitely worries me to have such a personal dependency on something without a known cost.
You?
Are there any other tools you are using? If so, please let me know in the comments.
