comparison

Moleskine Is Killing the Evernote

For a while, I was really getting into the use of Evernote to keep track of all of my little details throughout the day. I downloaded and installed the client on my Windows Mobile phone. I’d take notes, upload photos, and even played around with audio. In addition, I’d go around synchronizing all of this information on my different computers. It got to the point that I even decided to pay for the service in order to increase the number of MB I could upload.

The other day, I bought a Moleskine to help me keep myself sorted out, as if I really needed it with Evernote. I must say that the Moleskine has been very helpful, although in a different way. Still, my Evernote use has been curtailed quite a bit. Enough that I may have to unsubscribe and go with the free service.

One main difference between my Moleskine and Evernote use is that the latter does not lend itself to making to-do lists on a Windows Mobile device. The client requires keeping all your files on the web, which makes searching and retrieval slow. If you have no web connection, then it becomes impossible. If you have a laptop, then you could view most of your files; but, I’m talking about being more mobile than that. In any case, it’s much more immediate to jot down to-do lists on paper.

As far as writing notes, the Moleskine also has advantages over Evernote in that it’s a batteries not required method. There is no booting up, launching, or saving. Everything is just there for me to see all the time.

This is not all to say that using a Moleskine is all great. There are distinct disadvantages. For example, I cannot synchronize my Moleskine notes with various devices. That is, unless I photograph the pages and upload them to Evernote. Another disadvantage to using a Moleskine is that there is no Firefox plugin for it. If I want to save a web page or some highlighted text, it’s a pain. Evernote clearly wins on this one. I can not email my Moleskine notes either. Another clear advantage that Evernote has over the Moleskine is in searching for information. Evernote is really fast, especially when you have tons of information. I don’t imagine that going through Moleskine archives will be so easy in the coming years.

All said, I probably will not be dumping my Evernote in favor of the Moleskine. Yes, my use of Evernote has gone down. I think, however, that it will probably become a place to deposit important handwritten notes so that I can search them. In this sense, I will probably dump less stuff in Evernote; but it will be more useful and meaningful stuff.

Some Feedback About Virtual Assistants

A while back, I wrote about my decision to take on a Virtual Assistant for a fixed monthly fee. Previously, I was paying a $10 retainer fee to GetFriday.com to have a VA available for the occasional odd job. Now, I’ve raised my subscription to $120/month for 10 hours of service. I’ll have to figure out how to best use those hours through the month.

When I wrote this, I was not expecting the responses I received on the topic. I’ve had comments from several companies that offer VA services. Some of them seem intriguing. Here is a list of those who have commented thus far:

I’ve also had visits from people who are making it work in the U.S. as VAs.

One thing that has caught my attention regarding VAs in the U.S. vs VAs in foreign countries is the idea that domestic VAs cost more on an hourly basis, but generally charge less per task because it takes them less time to perform it. World Office Support writes that foreign VAs generally take longer to perform a task than their American counterparts. It’s a penny wise, pound foolish argument. They may well have a point; but it is difficult for me to test given that American VAs earn more than I do on an hourly basis. I think we are probably talking about different markets. American VAs are targeting people with more money than time. Foreign VAs seem to be targeting those of us with little of both. I’ve got the pennies, not the pounds.

A good example of the situation has to do with shampoo. Unilever tried selling shampoo in India just like they do in other countries. For some reason, their product was not moving. However, they did notice that travel-size shampoo was selling much better. Why? Well, you do get a better deal by buying shampoo in larger quantities, but often you only have enough money for small quantities, even with the added cost. So, the market could afford shampoo in travel-size containers much better than the standard size containers.

In the end, what you should get out of this is that comes down to arbitrage. One has to be able to buy and sell the same product at a difference in price in order to make a profit. The product in my case is time. At my current rate, there is parity between what I earn at my day job and what GetFriday earns. However, there is a price differential between what I earn in my computer business and what GetFriday earns. It is better for me to use the VA for business-related tasks than personal tasks. It pays for itself, in a way. If I were to move up one tier of monthly service, then it would actually be feasible to give my VA personal assignments as well. I could not do the same with an American VA. I’d operate at a loss whether it’s 1 minute or 60. At this point, I am short on time and money. I need to leverage both. I know I won’t be successful if I am paying my VA more than I earn on an hourly basis. Doing business at a loss is both penny and pound foolish. Maybe once I’m rich I’ll be able to hire an American VA; but not now.

Home Computer Upgrades

There comes a time in every computer’s life when it seems to struggle with some of the tasks that were once a breeze. We all know that it’s the constant creep of software updates that makes your once kick-ass computer into a lame-ass computer. Computer guys like me are not immune to this. I have two computers at home that I are not performing like they once did. I have a Compaq PC and a Mac G4 Quicksilver.

The PC needs more memory. It has been plugging along since we bought it with 512 MB of RAM. I did an online check on memory prices. I can upgrade it to 2 GB, maximum; so, I bought two memory sticks from Memory.com, which is one town over, for $26 each. That’s a great bargain and will give the computer a new lease on life. I’ll also save on shipping by stopping by their store on a lunch break. Overall, it’s still a decent PC, except that it takes longer to do things. I know the memory upgrade will improve the performance.

The Mac is another issue. I bought the Mac Quicksilver G4 for $300 or so. Given that it is my first Mac, I had no basis for comparison on its performance. When I got it, it definitely beat the old PC laptop I was using. In general, I still like using the Mac. The downside is that there is a HUGE price gap between what I paid for this computer and getting a new one, or so I thought. I found out that I can get a Mac Mini for $599. That sets a ceiling for my upgrade. The lowest-priced Mini runs at 1.83 GHz. To gain similar performance from my Mac G4, I found the Sonnet Encore/ST G4 1.8 GHz Processor upgrade. This will set me back $267. This is almost half the price of getting a new one. It’s a good deal, in my opinion. In addition, after reading the specs, I have learned that it auto configures without the need to mess with jumpers. Earlier, I was looking at maybe just doubling the performance from 733 MHz to 1.5 GHz. But given the $8 difference I’ll go with the 1.8 GHz.

I’m new to the whole Mac thing, so I don’t know what adding a dual 1.6 GHz processor card would do for the performance of my computer. I do know that there is a $100+ dollar difference, which takes the upgrade near the point where I should just get a new Mac Mini. I’m satisfied doubling the processor speed. I’ll look around for articles comparing the difference between single processors and dual processors on a Mac. I’d appreciate feedback from other geeks who know about these things.