Is Keep A Keeper?

Just two short days after being leaked, Google's note taking service dubbed "Google Keep" became official. Keep is certainly a no-frills service, but that doesn't mean it isn't useless. Whether you enjoy typing or talking more, Keep can keep up. So far, in my tests, the voice transcription has been incredibly accurate, so I can see myself using that feature most often while driving, as it also keeps the voice recording just in case the transcription is a little off. The other options you have are check boxes, handy if you use Keep as a to-do list; and an option to save a photo.

If any of this sounds at all familiar, that's because it is. Keep is Google's answer to Evernote. Getting current users to switch from Evernote will be next to impossible due to the fact that Evernote has over 34 million users and a four and a half year head start. Of course, Google may have snagged a few extra users right off the bat if they announced Keep in the wake of the Evernote security breach a few weeks back.

Google Keep may be a great product, but I don't think it will pull in the users that the big G is hoping for. Yes, mainly for Evernote and it's companion apps (Skitch, Evernote Food, and Evernote Hello), but more recently because some users are unsure whether or not the service will stay around. With Evernote, that is their sole business. If the service dies, the business dies. With Google, the service dies whenever they want it to die. Many users are still reeling from the death of Google Reader, myself included. Gigaom founder, Om Malik, said it best in his article on Gigaom.com:

"I spent about seven years of my online life on that service. I sent feedback, used it to annotate information and they killed it like a butcher slaughters a chicken. No conversation — dead. The service that drives more traffic than Google+ was sacrificed because it didn’t meet some vague corporate goals; users — many of them life long — be damned."

As for myself, I'll use Keep. I'll use it about as often as I use Evernote which, considering I have 18 notes since joining in October of 2009, it won't be often. But who knows! Maybe Google Keep will be handy enough and simple enough that I'll start using it more!

On the other hand...... nah, probably not. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some coffee.

Rest In Peace, My Beloved Google Reader

For a number of years now, I have been a daily user of Google Reader. Honestly, it is where I get close to 90% of my news from. It's how I stay up to date on what new gadgets are coming out and when, as well as hear about other current events.  Last night, I learned that Google would be discontinuing the service on July 1, 2013 as part of their "Spring Cleaning".

10 Reasons Daylight Saving Time is Evil!

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Source: The Joy of Tech

There Is Such A Thing As "Too Easy"

Let me pose a hypothetical situation to you. Let's say your significant other passed away suddenly (sad, I know, but bear with me), and that person did both of your taxes, paid the bills, and other important tasks. That person was also the administrator to the computer with all those files that you will need... but it is password protected and you don't know what it is. You have tried and failed many times to guess what the password could be; the dog's name, kid's name, your name, etc., but nothing works. What are your options?

The majority of people would either take it to a computer shop to see if they can unlock it, or accept defeat and admit to themselves that all that data would be forever lost. But there is a third option, and it scares me.

What A Week!

If you're reading this site, then you know that I like to play with the new gadgets and software. Unfortunately, my wallet forbids me from buying the new gear when it comes out, so I have to settle for checking out software.

It's is no secret that Verizon Wireless is possibly the slowest when it comes to updating their phones' software, so if you want to play with the latest dessert treat from Google... you need to install it yourself. So I did. Eventually. You see, initially, I only wanted to update the camera software so I could check out the Photoshere feature in the Android 4.2 update. Unfortunately, when I installed the camera update, it broke. I couldn't open the camera nor the photo gallery.