How to Upgrade Evernote: There Must Be a Way!

Gary North

January 19, 2009

I am trying to upgrade to Evernote 3. You would think this would be easy. This is the company's goal: to maximize the number of upgrades.

It is not easy for me. I get this message on-screen.

First, we must upgrade version 2 to version 2.2. OK. I tried. No success. I got this screen.

The box will not close. I click Yes. I click No. It just goes bong. I click Cancel, and the page disappears.

Evernote has made a major jump to on-line storage of data. It's still free, unless you post a lot of stuff. It's never very expensive. It's insurance against a hard disk failure. It's not a bad deal.

The trick is to get in on the deal if you use the older desktop version.

Then there is the new member problem. The site promises lots of goodies. The problem is, the list does not provide links under each benefit to a screencast video introduction showing: (1) the benefit in action; and (2) how to get the benefit.

Here is the same list in another format. The list could have included live links to screencast videos. It didn't.

Programmers like to program. Rarely do they like to teach. As for screencasts -- the fastest way to teach something on-line -- they are extremely rare. (An exception is Evernote's tiny competitor, Notescribe. They post lots of screencasts to help newcomers get up and running rapidly.)

They think their programs are intuitive. Few programs are intuitive.

Evernote has three how-do videos, each useful only for an advanced user. The demonstrations last less then two minutes. They confused me. The first one has more to do with how to use Photoshop than how to use Evernote.

http://www.evernote.com/about/what_is_en/video/

Compare this with Notescribe, which offers more than a dozen screencast videos, with these page of links accessible through the program's HELP screen.

http://www.notescribe.net/VideoTutorials.aspx

Look at Evernote's introductory page. There is no manual to download. There are no instructions. There is nothing that says, "This is how to use Evernote 3." The governing outlook: "We work with this program 8 hours a day. It's intuitive. Believe us."

This is a classic example of a company that has not thought through the problems of a revamped site. I have used Evernote for years. I have no idea how to use Evernote 3.

Can I upload my data from Evernote 2?

If I buy a new hard drive, can I export Evernote 2 and my data? I cannot download a replacement. They killed Evernote 2.

Can I upload from Evernote 2 to to Evernote 3? I don't know.

Did Evernote bring in at least 10 newbies to see if they could simply and rapidly start using Evernote? Did a guy with a clipboard stand behind each newbie, jotting down problems -- not giving advice? I doubt it. Yet it would take one day to do this. This would be a good project for the company's recent infusion of $4.5 million.

If Evernote burns through this money, and the marketing model does not work, what happens to our data when the company goes bust? Evernote is not Google. We are now in the early stage of the worst recession since World War II. Companies that launch a new marketing strategy had better guess right.

So far, I think Evernote has guessed wrong. I say: "If you don't make it easy for existing users to make the transition and use the program so much that they start paying $5/month, you are in trouble."

Programmers beta-test their code. They almost never beta-test their Welcome pages and documentation. As Ben Johnson tells John Wayne repeatedly in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, "That's not my department."

Maybe I'll make the transition. Maybe not. Wish me well.