NoteBook 3 (Mac CD)

I am an avid note-take, both for my engineering job and as a freelance writer. I used MS OneNote when I had a PC, but when I migrated to a Mac, I was left searching for a suitable replacement. I have used Aquamind's NoteTaker and NoteShare for the last several months. But that program is so burdensome to use, I just couldn't take it any more. I finally landed on Notebook, which has been a great fit. It is similar to the Aquaminds product, but much easier to use and works better with Mac OS X. So far it has integrated perfectly with Address Book, Mail, Grabber, Services, and other Mac system elements. Some of the best features are stickies and flags, as well as the Multidex, which creates an index of your Notebook on the fly using several different parameters (e.g., capitalized words, highlighted text, check boxes, flags, web clippings, attachments, etc.). This allows me to quickly find project information, web clippings, etc. Notebook also allows you to record audio notes, and if you take notes or type while audio is recorded, it keeps track of where during the audio the typing was done. Another very neat feature is that you export a full Notebook as an interactive web page and it behaves very similarly to the actual notebook. I have used this when I wanted to send project notes to a colleague. I exported the notebook and he was able to work it in his browser. Notebook also syncs to-dos with iCal, but I don't use this feature very much. I use Things for my To-Dos, which is a great program is you have lots of tasks and projects with a multitude of To-do's.

What about areas for improvement? The program acts a little funky sometimes when I use OS X's spelling corrector on the fly. The program will occasionally appear to freeze, but it does come back to life. There are other program tweaks that would be nice, but they are not significant enough to list out here. Notetaker has just the right features and is just comprehensive enough to not get in the way of taking notes.

Review by Ron Schoedel, for Alaskan Apple Users Group

Pros: Extremely versatile; excellent outlining and journaling tools; checklists; annotation abilities; unique Multidex feature makes finding anything a snap
Cons: a bit of a learning curve to master the many features, a few of the tools work a bit differently than similar functions in OS X, such as no ability to apply textual changes to multiple lines
Rating: 4.5/5

Like you, I've got a pretty busy life. Consequently, I need my Mac to work for me and to make my life simpler. That's why I have a Mac. And for the most part I've found some awesome software to help me with most tasks. However, I have been using a major office suite's word processor for my note taking and outlining needs for the last eleventy-teen years. I never liked it, though. It never really made my life easier, because large documents would crash, finding things was a real chore, and using this word processor bogged down my system. I've been on the lookout for a good outlining and journaling program for a while now. I'm pleased to have found Circus Ponies Notebook. Notebook has made note taking not only more productive for me, but actually pleasurable, with just a few very minor quirks.

Notebook packs the power of a relational database in a seemingly simple looking on-screen notebook. It's the simple interface that may deceive the user into think Notebook is a one-trick circus pony. But it is so incredibly versatile, that I am glad the developers have provided an ample Help system, great tutorial videos, and a "quick start" screen upon launch, to get you into a document pre-formatted for the project at hand.

I have family and church responsibilities to tend to. I have a summer-long trip to Wales I am planning (requiring a check-list for packing, for example), along with the need to keep a daily journal while abroad. I have multiple classes for which I want to take good notes. I will begin working on my JD and MBA later this year, with all of the time management and academic challenges that will impose.

Consequently, I need an information management system that will allow me to work my way, making all of my project data easily accessible. These data come from images I find on the web, PDFs (with my own annotations), Pages files or other documents I have created or which have been sent to me, little snippets of information found on the web or in email messages, maps, sketches, and more. I learned that all of these can co-exist in a Notebook, arranged in a manner that works for me.

Notebook templates exist for such tasks as trip planning, film shoot planning, trial preparation, recipe collecting, journaling, and making a to do list, among other common tasks. Each Notebook is fully indexed by the patented Multidex, a gateway to all sorts of metadata.

The Multidex is a behind the scenes workhorse that stays out of the way, unobtrusively sitting on the table of contents page for each Notebook. It offers access to every phrase that you've highlighted, capitalized words, sticky notes, attachments (both current and deleted), website addresses, every single word in your notebook, and more. For example, a document that has lots of proper names is easily searched by the Capitalized Words Multidex, which updates dynamically.

Notebook can mimic a physical binder, complete with a simulated spiral binding and with sections denoted by colored tabs, titled for each section created. At first it may seem somewhat contrived to duplicate the appearance of a physical binder. But the beauty of this is in its ability to make you feel comfortable, as if you are right at home with a binder or legal pad. In fact, you can even specify the background on your notebook, for example, legal pad yellow, white ruled, graphing paper, steno style, and other backgrounds that replicate dead-tree notebooks.

Now, with respect to the tabbed sections: If you were working on a research paper, you might create a section for research notes, one for sources, another to collect random ideas you may get, a section for outlining your paper, another for your first draft, and so forth. An OS X Service offers the ease of clipping and copying any data you come across on your computer (such as on the web) into your Notebook, and it helpfully provides a link back to the source.

But wait, there's more! By easily adding a "Clipping Service" to any Notebook page of your choice, you can even toss information into a Notebook without it even being open! Say you've set up a travel planning notebook, and you've got a "wish list" page for things you may want to bring with you. Add a clipping service to this page. Whenever you're out on the web and you a link you'd like to add, highlight the link or text on a webpage, and OS X's services menu will offer the option to add your text to the notebook page. A clipping sound effect verifies that your link was properly filed and awaits your later use.

I've begun journaling using Notebook. The interface is friendly, and the ability to jot down items at random as I think about them is very useful. Sticky notes get lost too easily. Even electronic Sticky notes get hard to manage. Launching a full-on word processor takes too long, and then you've got the problem of naming and saving the file, which will likely be forgotten about and left to rot in a cluttered Documents folder. Notebook eliminates this hassle and allows for quick trips into the program to jot down a thought and exit, all in just a few seconds.

Preparing comprehensive and usable outlines is another task I am working on mastering. Notebook makes this possible with the simplicity involved in moving text around. If I need to make a new heading, or a new child or sibling object, it's as simple as clicking the beginning of a text object, and dragging it somewhere else on the page, such as under a more appropriate heading. The ability to collapse outline sections I am not actively looking at (i.e. get them out of the way) makes for a very clean looking page. Minimal distraction equals optimal productivity. Never again will I try to use that unnamed Major Software Word processor for outlining.

So what didn't I like? I found it impossible to select multiple lines of text (which I here define as "sections" of text separated on a page by a carriage return) to which I could apply changes, such as tabs. Maybe it's possible, but if so, I couldn't figure it out. Consequently, I had to manually drag the little tab stop arrows individually for a dozen or so return-split sections of text while realigning an outline (which, I should add, Notebook helpfully and correctly formatted as such using a special command). Applying highlighting to selected text seemed more difficult than it could have been. Seeing as how the customizable toolbar contains a Highlight icon with a drop down menu of highlight colors, I figured I could just drag to select some text and then choose a color from this menu. What I actually had to do was invoke a command from the Edit menu, with a keyboard shortcut of control-option-command-H. A bit less intuitive than OS X Preview's highlighting feature, which I have gotten used to.

Also, there is a bit of a learning curve, but thankfully Circus Ponies' website has some great introductory videos. I recommend you watch them before jumping in, so you can get started already having a good idea of just what Notebook can do for you. Empowerment is always a good thing, right?

I first read about Notebook on a blog written by someone who indicated they switched to Mac just to be able to use Notebook after seeing it on someone else's computer. I've been a lifelong Mac user, so I did not have to switch to avail myself of this software gem. However, I can wholeheartedly say that Notebook offers such a simple but powerful revolution in information management, that it ranks as one of my top apps for productivity increase potential. The generous 30-day trial period is worth checking out and the nice academic discount makes this a natural addition to any student's MacBook. But as I hope I've shown, Notebook has applications far outside the realm of academic life. It is hard to explain all of the neat little nuances and features of Notebook. Download the trial and give it a whirl yourself. You may even begin to enjoy managing your information again, no matter how much of it you have.

I saw this product when I was recently buying my new Macbook --- I looked at it, and then walked away. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed it. My fear was that it would be another of a long list of things meant to organize my life that fell to the unused wayside.

Now, that being said, it is a great product, but it is not 100% intuitive. It does everything that it says it does, and if you take the time to learn everything, it will amaze you. We have all been to the wishing well of "great products that are easy to use" and those are few and far between.

This is one of those products that you can just use 50% of the features and be happy with it. I say, go for the 100% and be deliriously happy.