Circus Ponies Notebook 2.1 (Mac)
from: CSDC
Your Price: $49.95
Prices subject to change.Average Rating: 
Sales Rank: 6032
Sales Rank: 6032
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Software : Circus Ponies Notebook 2.1 (Mac) |
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Rating:  - * Nice program. I personally have some difficulties getting used to it ... The program seems very nice while I am playing with it just for the sake of playing with it. I have had a license for a couple of years by now, but I personally have not been able to incorporate Notebook into my workflow. I am a scientist and I therefore routinely collect tidbits of information when I am writing a research paper or a review. I almost always start by using Notebook but then quickly give up and end up making a simple list of things in a word processor program. The manipulation of items still seems confusing to me personally. For example, for the life of me I fail to understand the difference between an Outlining page and a Writing page. Can one write but not outline or outline but not write??? It seems to me that whether to write or to outline should be a choice of the user while they are working, not when they are creating one type of page or another before they started to work. I can use the same piece of paper for writing or outlining any time, why should I have to make this choice in an electronic form beforehand? Having Cells is a nice idea. On the other hand, if I have many cells on the same page, I fail to find a way to know how my notes would look when they are printed out on paper, since the concept of a Page in Notebook is different from a concept of a normal page: the Notebook Page can be indefinitely long and you have to go to Print Preview to see how it will look like. There is a Notebook Page and then there is a printout page: sorry, but the logic of such a distinction goes right over my head. (I am not too old, barely over 30, by the way, such that I am still in principle capable of learning one or two new things.) The Clipping service of Notebook really shines. This is the main feature of the program that brings me to keep trying it over and over again. There is probably no better software solution to sort pieces of information into different bins (clipping pages) by pasting information from the internet. I have used it to show off Mac OS to co-workers and they were very impressed with this feature of Notebook. So here is my dilemma: because of Notebook's excellent Clipping Services, I simply can not bring myself to abandon this program for good. However, because the rest of its interface and notes structure seems to be counterintuitive to me, I can not bring myself to use it for my projects. It is almost too silly, but I keep going through the same trial-rejection cycle of Notebook for each of my new projects. I can only hope for one of two things, either me finally "getting" it and be able to use it fully at last, or that version 3.0 would be more intuitive to use. However, those who are smarter than me would certainly be able to greatly enjoy the program even in its current incarnation. Rating:  - * Great Software at a Great Price with a reasonable DRM ... I have used Notebook for years and find it indispensable for personal and work-related projects. It performs very much as advertised. It is versatile, easy-to-use, and very stable. Technical support is great: the online documentation is helpful and the developer is prompt at answering email queries. There is a very active user forum with tons of helpful hints and special interest groups like writers, teachers, and GTD. You can install Notebook on as many computers as you like, but can only run one copy at a time. This DRM policy seems fair to both the user and the developer to me. If you must have Notebook running on more than one computer at a time, CircusPonies offers a 3 license Family Pack for $99, a bargain in my book. Rating: - * Great software ... Easy to use, does what it says, very useful. Installs perfectly. If you only take text notes, then this is a little over kill (with Spotlight and Google Desktop text files do fine for text notes). The real strength of Notebook is multimedia. Next version has drawing capability which will be a must-have (check the company website - you probably get a free upgrade if you buy this). Rating: - * When life is a circus... ... Bring on the Circus Ponies! When I was a kid, every fall I got a list of classroom materials to buy for school. Every year I found I had to buy several spiral notebooks for class. Little did I know that those spiral notebooks would be following me into adulthood, albeit digitally in the form of NoteBook 2, by Circus Ponies. NoteBook is a digital version of that notebook I've always kept my deepest darkest secrets in. On screen, it takes the appearance of that spiral notebook, complete with the wire spine. What it doesn't contain is all the haphazard clippings that stick out in all directions and the bent corners from exceeding its physical boundaries. Even the most disorganized person can keep this notebook in order and within a tiny package. NoteBook has become the central hub of my GTD (getting things done) life. Combined with my MacBook Pro notebook, I have a resource to help me remember just what I was going to do any given day. The format caters to the right brained user. Anything of interest can be dragged into the easy to use format and cataloged into ways only I can understand. Every notebook file has an contents page. Clicking on the contents links or the tabs on the side of the notebook leads to pages within the notebook. Also in every notebook is an index which lists keywords within the notebook. Information can be stored in the form of web links, photos, files on the computer, or even voice annotations. I particularly like To Do lists, which have the capability of being checked off to my satisfaction. It's a great feeling to check off tasks completed! The magic of NoteBook lies within the Services menu of the Mac. I like to think of NoteBook as a tool to navigate this little used feature of OS X. In most applications, the Services menu can be invoked and NoteBook is there to do one's bidding. Want to create an action on an e-mail? Pull up Services within Mail and clip the relevant data. Working on a project in Pages? Use the Services menu to clip it to NoteBook. NoteBook can be used best as a project manager. I am a busy facilitator for a Macintosh Users Group. My educational seminars are planned in NoteBook. All my thoughts and references are pinned to pages in my virtual notebook. I have another notebook to run my household tasks. Shopping, home improvement, errand running, and appointments are all clipped into my notebook. With seamless integration with Mac bundled applications like Mail, Safari, iCal and Address Book, my tasks are organized efficiently and effortlessly. My life is not often spent in front of my Mac. Portability options are important to me. My notebook can be exported to HTML which can be stored on any other computer or my iDisk. I can see what i need to accomplish away from my Mac. What I would really love to see in future builds is even more portability to mobile devices. If I could have NoteBook on an iPhone, I would be running out to get one in a heartbeat. I am hoping this capability is foremost in the developer's priorities as applications become available on the iPhone and other devices. NoteBook version 2 is on the cusp of releasing version 3. I am informed that version 3 will incorporate sketching and handwriting recognition. Also included will be diagramming and flow chart tools. I anxiously await these enhancements. Utility: 5 (everyone needs a GTD solution) Stability: 5 (hasn't crashed yet) Documentation: 5 (tutorials are excellent) Portability: 3 (HTML versions can't be edited. No real web based version or mobile distribution) Support: 4 (Developer is involved with end users) UI: 5 (It's even got a cute spiral on the spine!) Potential: 4 (I can't wait for the version 3 enhancements) How incredibly satisfying! The best feature is that you can't drop it and scatter all the pages on the floor. It allows for the right brained organization that many Mac users utilize. I score this at a high 4, but I'll give it a 5 for overall effort! Rating:  - * Good product, oppressive DRM ... This is a very useful organizational tool. I found it excellent for managing projects and when keeping notes for my fiction writing. However, you should be aware. . . This program will only run on one computer at a time. When you start the program it automatically searches your local network -- without warning or permission -- to see if any other copy is already running. If it finds one, it will abort with a message telling you to buy another license key. If you use multiple computers around your home or office you could find yourself having to buy this program again and again, at $50 a pop. |
