"To Pachikov (one of the founders), Evernote wasn’t just another app or a way to capitalize on Silicon Valley’s burgeoning obsession with personal productivity. It was an extension of the human mind itself that would let users remember everything."
TFA made many good points about distractions into merchandise, missing the group discussion opportunity, etc.
But the critical element that killed Evenote is it's unreliability and data loss/corruption.
If anyone actually uses Evernote as intended -- the tool to extend your memory -- the sync and storage functions simply can NEVER lose or corrupt data.
Absolute reliability is more critical than any other feature.
Yet they failed on this one key function.
My anecdata is that while evaluating apps for gathering info & taking notes, Evernote's feature list came out on top in nearly every comparison -- but it had significant reports of unreliability. Disqualified. Period. Never looked back and no regrets, especially since it is still evidently not fixed.
Developers must distinguish between general usability features (e.g., supporting platform X or data format Y) and critical functions.
General features will lose you some users, but you can get them once you get around to implementing.
Critical functions failing or missing will keep people away no matter what you do, forever. And beyond that is the general damage you'll cause to other people's lives by, in this case, corrupting their highly valuable data and memories.
TFA made many good points about distractions into merchandise, missing the group discussion opportunity, etc.
But the critical element that killed Evenote is it's unreliability and data loss/corruption.
If anyone actually uses Evernote as intended -- the tool to extend your memory -- the sync and storage functions simply can NEVER lose or corrupt data.
Absolute reliability is more critical than any other feature.
Yet they failed on this one key function.
My anecdata is that while evaluating apps for gathering info & taking notes, Evernote's feature list came out on top in nearly every comparison -- but it had significant reports of unreliability. Disqualified. Period. Never looked back and no regrets, especially since it is still evidently not fixed.
Developers must distinguish between general usability features (e.g., supporting platform X or data format Y) and critical functions.
General features will lose you some users, but you can get them once you get around to implementing.
Critical functions failing or missing will keep people away no matter what you do, forever. And beyond that is the general damage you'll cause to other people's lives by, in this case, corrupting their highly valuable data and memories.