By now you’ve probably realized I love Evernote and prefer it over other similar services like Springpad and Catch.com. This is not to say the other two companies are bad by any account – it’s just that I first tried out Evernote and was delighted with the service so much that I didn’t see a point to try out their competitors.
I see a great value of having my notes stored both locally and in the cloud, and accessible via the web and mobile devices whenever needed. This utility is also something that should be interesting for handset makers which are trying to differentiate their products by bundling apps and services with the device purchases.
So I decided to compile a short list of companies which I believe should be interested to offer note-taking capabilities to its users. But first…
3 companies that WON’T acquire note-taking service providers
- Microsoft – the Redmond giant already offers OneNote and the way I see it, their idea is to replicate the desktop experience on the web and mobile phones. They could get the user base but I’m not sure that would be the idea here (unlike with Skype).
- Nokia – with the Finnish company concentrating its resources on Windows Phone devices, I don’t see them entering the multi-platform service market. All note-taking services offer mobile clients for few platforms and that [multi-platform] approach is not something Nokia did in the past (at least not when it comes to supporting competing platforms). That could change, though.
- Sony Ericsson – they’re just not into acquisitions despite their efforts to make their phones unique in some way (different UI).
And now…
The companies that could acquire note-taking services
- Amazon – the company that we used to know as the world’s biggest bookstore has been offering services for quite some time now. I could easily imagine some Amazon-branded note-taking, wishlist-creating application running on my phone.
- Google – despite their obvious Android focus, the search giant releases its mobile apps for all major mobile platforms. They used to have their own Google Notebooks service, only to shut it down after some time.
- Major smartphone makers like HTC, Samsung and LG – all of which want to have their products look a bit different from the competing handsets. What’s more, HTC and Samsung are now offering wireless syncing capabilities and a note-taking service could prove as a great addition to the offering (or at least me thinks so) as well as help the brand get some additional love.
- Huawei and ZTE – with Chinese companies trying to climb up the value chain, they’ll need their own services sooner or later. Both Huawei and ZTE have enough money to easily acquire any note-taking service provider, the move that could help people on the West associate their products with greater quality.
Again the contenders are Evernote, Springpad and Catch.com. Evernote is obviously the big prize but the other two have a great potential, too… Any thoughts?