Evernote and Moleskine Review

The Apple Store in my hometown had a sale (believe it!) on the new Moleskine/Evernote notebooks. Since I had an iPod Touch anyway, I figured I could test it out. These are initial concerns with the product, so it may grow on me.

First impressions:
It's Moleskine. They're the best of the best, and I have at least three different notebooks I use. This one has a design on the front, which is normal for Moleskine, such as the journal for books. Either way, the purpose of the notebook was not the fact that it was from a particular brand, but what it was supposed to do. That being said, a little backstory.

The Backstory:
So I'm a gadget whore. I'll admit it, and I don't care to tell it to anyone. Smartphone, tablets, and all the little nooks and crannies they can exist in my life are just plain awesome. I use them everywhere, all the time. School is included obviously, and Evernote with that. See where this is going? Recently, the Evernote app on my tablet has started crashing, and while I like Evernote and they are most likely working on it, losing a whole set of notes unexpectedly can be devastating. So in response, I started to write my notes on paper and transferring them to Evernote later. This added benefit, while an extra step, can be better in the end because I am transcribing my notes to Evernote, repeating them and forcing myself to study in a fashion. Not my go-to for study methods, but it's there. Anyway, we have come now to Moleskine/Evernote notebook.

Review:
First off, the idea is there. However, Livescribe has been doing this for a while now. Their pens are excellent, I've used the first generation of them. The application of this version of moving from physical paper to Evernote should have, in my opinion, been implemented better. Basically, this notebook feels like a notebook sponsored by Evernote, not something implemented to actually make the transfer of physical notes to Evernote easier.
This is a comparison of a 5MP iPod Touch vs. a 8MP Nexus 4:

From my point of view, the 8MP looks better. It's obvious that it would look better, but Evernote advertises that these notebooks are designed for the page camera app. In other words, why buy the moleskine at all? Why not just have a phone with a nice camera on it and upload a pad of paper to Evernote that way?

Anther complaint, based on my experience with Livescribe, is they have now come out with wireless on their pens. If the notebooks (not the initial investment of the pen) cost cheaper than the Moleskine, wouldn't it be financially prudent to just buy the pen and then the three pack notebooks?






I'm not against them completely. I see their application, although when it comes to usage it seems they are underwhelming...just not impressed with this at all. I recommend an investment into Livescribe if you require paper notes (possibly due to a strict professor or boss).