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3

What's a good cloud based notebook?

The features I'd like to have:

  1. I need to be able to sync my notes on my Android cell phone and various computers.

  2. I need to be able to have the actual files, not only to view and edit via UI.

  3. On computers, ideally I should be able to edit the notes in Emacs, but not only on the website in a Web browser. This probably mean there should be a Emacs mode for the note system.

I am currently undecided with Fetchnotes and Simplenote. Any recommendation?

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1  
What's wrong with using a simple laptop with all the above features? – eminemence Jun 6 '12 at 5:17
Have actual files / have mobile app / edit in emacs. All solutions I can think of tick only 2 of 3 boxes. Or is it enough to view the files on your android device? – 0x6d64 Jun 6 '12 at 6:03
I'll need to be able to edit those note files on my Android phone. – user6076 Jun 6 '12 at 15:20

8 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Since you're already an Emacs user the obvious answer is Org-mode and it's companion MobileOrg for Android.

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up vote 4 down vote

I don't know Fetchnotes and Simplenote, but I use another tool for the same purpose that seems to meet all your needs: it's called evernote.

I need to be able to sync my notes on my Android cell phone and various computers.

There is an evernote webapp that runs in your browser, an app on android/windows/mac (and even linux http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/nevernote)

I need to be able to have the actual files, not only to view and edit via UI.

Evernote is "note" centered (dah!). It's a notebook. But you can attach all sorts of files to them, including audio files & photos (even when recorded/taken directly through the phone app, very handy!)

Plus, it has this web clipper that makes it super easy to grad stuff on the internet an store them in one of your notebooks, putting in some tags on the way.

On computers, ideally I should be able to edit the notes in Emacs, but not only on the website in a Web browser. This probably mean there should be a Emacs mode for the note system.

Okay, now is the BEST PART :) it has an awesome command-line tool that runs on linux, called geeknote.me. So basically you can create/edit any of your notes and send it in the could with any editor (but it works better with vim, like everything else, nat(u)rolly ;)

That's the only tools I have used, so maybe there are other good tools out there, but I can definitely recommend the one. http://evernote.com/

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I second Evernote. It's free and full of features. It works on all major platforms...iOS, OSX, Windows, Android. – milesmeow Dec 28 '12 at 20:24
up vote 3 down vote

I prefer good ol' Google Docs. Not the simple one-line note. But it is great for cross-platform. It has features 1 and 2 that you describe. 3 is possible via downloading the document.

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up vote 2 down vote

There are a whole bunch of things that satisfy everything but the emacs part of this (Google docs, dropbox, ect) - I'm using a mac and my solution would be to use google docs and then have quickCursor running so that I could edit section of text I wanted in emacs (I currently have it set up to edit everything in vim There are a whole bunch of things that satisfy everything but the emacs part of this (Google docs, dropbox, ect) - I'm using a mac and my solution would be to use google docs and then have quickCursor running so that I could edit section of text I wanted in emacs (I currently have it set up to edit everything in vim (and, in fact, that's how I'm writing this post now).

On a mac I think QuickCursor is your answer, and I'm sure there are similar apps for other OSs - it's a really useful tool. :wp

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Your text needs editing. – user6076 Dec 26 '12 at 3:16
up vote 2 down vote

I'm user of dropbox and plain text files. One huge advantage is very simple editing in android environment. (And probably iphone - I'm not sure). You can even create files in offline mode. There are VIM on android, but I can't be sure it's very useful.

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up vote 1 down vote

I think evernote would suffice your requirements. I like it very much because

  1. The UI is great
  2. I can attach pic,recording,video and sketch to the note
  3. It automatically syncs my notes online
  4. I use it as a diary also By the way you can use it on android and also online
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Welcome to Personal Productivity! Your answer would be much more valuable if you explain why you like evernote. – THelper Dec 25 '12 at 11:04
@THelper thanks for the tip. I will definitely do so from now on – Sampath Kumar Rao Dec 25 '12 at 15:09
up vote 1 down vote

I have pretty much the same use requirements, and have ended up using Dropbox and Epistle. It's a flexible combination, stores all content in plain ASCII text, and supports Markdown. I use Org-mode and MobileOrg on top of that, and they actually coexist rather nicely after some configuration.

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up vote 0 down vote

I recommend workflowy.com using John Locke's commonplace book indexing method,a great way to keep your workflowy.com notes tidy.

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Is workflowy a Web 2.0 version of emacs org-mode? – user6076 Dec 23 '12 at 7:42
I'm afraid not, workflowy currently has limited export capabilities compared with emacs org-mode, but it's a better outliner in my opinion. – cgomezsilva Dec 26 '12 at 13:34

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