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I’m Moving from Backpack to Springpad — Here’s Why

October 13th, 2009 (1:00pm) Scott Blitstein 20 Comments

springpad logoI first wrote about the Springpad notebook organizer almost a year ago now and was immediately impressed by the offering. Since then, as improvements have come across my desk I’ve always revisited it and found it to be a capable part of any organizational arsenal.

And yet, I still haven’t been using it in my daily work. You see, a couple of years ago I found Backpack from 37signals and was smitten with it. I created Backpack pages for everything: tracking client information, article ideas, concerts I’ve attended, purchasing, research and more. If I started something new, it got a Backpack page.

However, as much as I loved Backpack, there were some gaps. I found the calendar lacking, instead using the Google Calendar. Reminders and To-Do items were much better handled by Toodledo, and the sheer volume of information I was managing with it often got unwieldy.

So when I had a look at the new iteration of Springpad that was released earlier last week, I finally took the plunge. Goodbye, Backpack … Hello, Springpad.

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Springpad Goes Mobile

July 16th, 2009 (11:00am) Scott Blitstein 1 Comment

springpad logoOnline organizer and notepad tool springpad is one of those apps that has impressed me from the start. I love the ready-made springpads and the ability to clip items in to my notebooks as I move about the web, but the recent introduction of mobile access makes the service eminently more useful. The ability to view and modify my data from any web-enabled device makes those shopping and other lists available without the need to print them out before my trip.

Once you have your account set up, visit my.springpadit.com to view the pages from your mobile device. The mobile site isn’t as feature-rich as the main site but it’s quite usable for quick access to your springpads while on the go.

I did receive error messages about lack of support for Opera Mobile, which I hope they will address soon. The minimalist pages I was directed to using that browser pale in comparison to the full mobile app that displays with Pocket IE on my Windows Mobile.

With an eye to being a “whole life” organizer, springpad has always been more than just a productivity app. The addition of mobile access goes a long way to making it much more ubiquitous, and thus much more useful.

How do you use your mobile springpads?

Springpad Revisited

March 10th, 2009 (2:00pm) Scott Blitstein 5 Comments

springpad logoOften my reviews here at WebWorkerDaily are peeks at beta or early release versions of an application or service. While I think it is useful to provide these sneak peeks, it is often in the first couple months of a product’s life when a lot of usability enhancements get put in to place.

So I decided to revisit a few of the applications I was impressed with in review, but hadn’t personally adopted, to see how they fare after a bit more cooking time. The first of these is Springpad, the online notebook organizer I last looked at back in November.

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Springpad Online Notebooks Help Get Things Done

November 17th, 2008 (9:00am) Scott Blitstein 12 Comments

Springpad - LogoMany of us who have embraced The Web as the place for our stuff have looked to applications like Backpack, Evernote, or Google Notebook as places to store all of the things that we need to get or stay organized.

While most apps of this type tend to be free form or even business focused, Springpad is a series of online notebooks designed to be a whole life organizational tool. Stay on top of not only your business or professional projects and items, but also track your personal life as well.

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