The often discussed notion of an external brain or place to keep all sorts of information in an easy to access format is no longer just an idea it is reality with Evernote.

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. This free tools works on Windows and OSX, any smartphone and on the Web. Information input into Evernote is automatically synced across all devices.

Watch the following video, then go to the Evernote website and view the What is Evernote Page and I will guarantee that you will start using this free web-based tool.

If you want even more power and control you can download and install the Windows or OSX client and your information from the web will automatically be synced to your system.

One of my favorite ways to use Evernote is as a digital voice recorder. On a recent trip to Calgary I had several good ideas that i didn’t want to loose so I simply fired up Evernote in my iPhone and recorded my thoughts.

The New Note screen on the Evernote iPhone App gives you four options so capturing information in any format is just a single click away.

Educational Applications

• Evernote is the consummate research tool I wish I had in when I was doing my graduate studies–the ability to capture, store and index all forms in information in almost any format makes it so easy to get at the information at a later date.
• Evernote will also do OCR and is able to capturing and indexing text from images so capturing notes from a whiteboard, signs, product information sheets, business cards, etc. save you valuable time.
• Because Evernote syncs across all devices I will create my meeting agenda or lecture notes in Evenote on my laptop and then access them via my iPhone.
• The indexing and search functionality make is very easy to access the valuable tidbit of information that you stored in just in case you needed it someday.

There is a premium version of Evernote that costs $5 per month or $45 per year but to date I have not had the need for the added security and additional storage space that this account offers.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Top 5 Reasons to Use Evernote (chris.pirillo.com)
• 6 Ways To Add Your Information To Evernote (makeuseof.com)
• Evernote now syncs your files across devices (news.cnet.com)