Evernote's Presentation Mode

[derekcx]

I'm here for two reasons really: the migration discussion and to also consider the new Evernote Presentor mode.
I thought initially this was a game changer: hence my tagline in ENForums: "Lets make Evernote the best presentation software ever"
But at present it's not really useable. It is really early days yet, but I'm still keen to get some sort of idea if it will be fixed.

-Derek

[grumpymonkey]

I wouldn't hold your breath on presentation mode. Here is my guess (based entirely on my gut and not on any inside knowledge). When Evernote says it is going after Microsoft Office, it is working off the assumption that office is overkill, and what people really need are simpler products that just get the job done in a visually appealing, but not terribly complicated manner. Maybe this sounds good to some people, and it might even be accurate for a significant percentage of workers, but to me it sounds like a product that will never fit my needs, which generally require fine control over things like layout. I can't even change fonts right now.

It's been six years and EN still isn't able to meet my needs. Life is too short to wait around anymore. I'll keep tabs on it, and I wish them success with it (they might well find a large audience for their unique feature), but I don't think presentation mode is going to change many games.

[sentinel]

Derek,
I remember some time ago, somewhat defending EN's Presentation Mode in their Forum primarily because I saw it has/had great 'potential'. Some it's features provide more flexibility is use, potentially making it a better option for some presentations verse PPT. However, the fact they have made little advancements in Font editing, etc. over the years, ultimately shoots itself in the foot, preventing it from reaching it's potential. So, like GM, I don't see it as a game changer. Despite my hopes for it.

(Sigh)!

Looking past that for a moment...Has anyone attempted using Word or Pages as a Presentation app? I haven't, but the thought just came to mind. Not sure it has any features geared toward presentation, or if it could be "user engineered" for the purpose. Just a thought.

[burgersnfries]

Yes, I think many of us were willing to put up with "emerging/evolving" Evernote features in the past.  When Dave Engberg manned the board, I know I felt the company was fully vested in the product (as a PERSONAL tool) and their users.  Then Dave was no longer a presence on the board.  But I still felt the company interaction was good.  But now that they've pretty much divorced themselves from their users and seem to be less concerned about being a personal tool & more into breaking into the business software side of things, I am no longer confident that my greatest issues with the Evernote product (which are core features - scalability and searching) would never be addressed or not addressed in a timely fashion.  I'd already been jerking around with workarounds (my "duet" system) for over a year.  This is compounded by the fact that "Evernote does not publish their roadmap or ETAs", so we're all left wondering what's going on "behind the green door."  (Oh dear!) 

I think the lesson many of us have learned is don't pin your hopes on what you think Evernote might be tomorrow.  If Evernote works for you today, then great.  But be prepared in case the features you use/rely on are retired/buggy tomorrow. 

I'm going to split some of these posts to a new thread.

[s2sailor]

I had high hopes for presentation mode as well but after seeing no new development on it since it was released, I think it is what it is, certainly not what it could be. I'm a Windows user and maybe it is slick on the Mac but on Windows, I don't see it adding any value. In my development meetings I just present to the group using standard EN with the note maximized. I don't even bother changing the font size. I only present to small groups of <20 so the standard size font displays good enough on the overhead.

[raystafarian]

I found that tons of features that came out of the Evernote world didn't have any practicality in my world or how I use(d) EN. One great barrier EN will have with this is the proprietary file types.

[burgersnfries]

Sept 18, 2014 17:59:17 GMT raystafarian said:

I found that tons of features that came out of the Evernote world didn't have any practicality in my world or how I use(d) EN. One great barrier EN will have with this is the proprietary file types.

AFAIK, Evernote does not have any proprietary file types.  I know on Windows, the database is a SQL (MySQL, I think) file.