Store and Organize Ideas and Info With Web-Based Springpad
At a Glance
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Springpad
Springpad's free Web service lets you add files, links, notes, photos, and videos to your online "box of stuff."
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As we swim the ocean of data on the Web--in bookstores, in magazines, conversations and everywhere else information lives--sometimes we come across tidbits we want to save for later. Maybe it's the name of a movie to watch, an interesting recipe, an inspiring quote, or something we need to add to this week's to-do list. Whatever that piece of information is, Springpad wants to keep it for you.

Since Springpad lives on the Web, it tries to use the Web for adding context to your notes. For example, when you clip a webpage containing a recipe, Springpad tries to parse it and identify the ingredients, number of servings, and the directions. Then, when you view the recipe in Springpad, it offers a link to add ingredients to your shopping list.
Since Springpad wants to be a catch-all for your information, sorting and searching become very important, and Springpad offers several ways to separate your information into manageable bits. At the top of the information hierarchy are notebooks: You manually create these according to whatever scheme that makes sense to you. You can have a "Personal" notebook, a "Weekend Projects" notebook, and so on. You can assign each notebook its own visual theme, to give it some individual character.

Adding content to your notebook usually works, but not always: Once, when I tried adding a book to my notepad, Springpad simply refused, popping up an error message that said "Something went wrong when creating your item :(." Emoticons are cute, but that wasn't a very helpful message. Trying again did not resolve the problem.

Other than minor parsing hiccups, Springpad worked fine for me. The notebook metaphor is an effective way to divide data, and having the service automatically parse and categorize notes can be a valuable time-saver. If you're looking for a free information catch-all service that can save you some typing and put your data in context, Springpad is an interesting option. Then again, if you don't mind the $5 monthly price tag, Evernote provides a native Windows client and doesn't have built-in ads.
--Erez Zukerman




































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