3-week tech trial: Jered’s Results

Posted by Jered | Filed under 3-week tech trial

Michael has been writing about firewalling his processes and giving every new input or process change three weeks to see if it “sticks.” I have been using the 3-week tech trial for a year or so, because, I’m a joiner. When there is a new services, I join it, a beta program, I submit my email. I don’t know why, but I am always adding new services to my tool belt, hoping to find “the one”.

Example: iwantsandy.com

From the Web site: Hi! I’m Sandy, your new assistant. I’ll remember the details so you can focus on what’s important. Sandy applies some pretty complex AI which reads your messages to the service and then can send you reminders or keep information for you. 

When Sandy was in Beta, I signed up and tried to integrate it into my system. At the time I didn’t have a cellphone that had text messages, which is where I probably missed the boat with Sandy. She is able to send reminders by email and text, keeping you updated of your calendar and tasks.

I gave Sandy a couple of weeks, but found that I was not putting much into her system to make her work with me. Sandy is essentially an all or nothing system. Abandon your current setup and convert completely to Sandy.

Sandy did not make it through the 3-week tech trial. 

Example: NetNewsWire / NewsGator

As a user of the Google Reader, it was hard to me to switch away from an online feed reader. My switch to Google Reader was quick, but the change away was painful. I have read from bloggers more prolific and brighter than I, that a stand alone feed reader is the way to go.

When NetNewsWire went free, I downloaded it and put my feeds in the reader. Skeptical, I figured out the killer feature quickly. Syncing. The app syncs between work and home and my iPhone. I know Google Reader works on all of those platforms, but there is something to be said about having a application, which retains your focus, unlike the web browser. The other thing that is nice about the NetNewsWire/NewsGator combo is that I can still access those feeds on the web, the web app is great.

NetNewsWire passed the 3-week tech trial.

Example: Evernote (beta)

Evernote used to be a Windows only, ticker-tape style note application. With the 2.0 release, Evernote has become a web service, with a Mac and Windows client. Notes sync back and forth between the clients and the web service, where images are run through text recognition, making images searchable.

I am finding this service very useful, keeping notes across my systems, at my hands when I need them.

Evernote is currently in Week 2 of the 3-week tech trial, more to come on Evernote. 

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Permalink | April 1st, 2008

2 Responses to “3-week tech trial: Jered’s Results”

  1. Stacey Derbinshire Says:
    April 1st, 2008 at 8:57 am

    I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

    Stacey Derbinshire

  2. Michael Says:
    April 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    Hi Stacey,

    Thanks for finding us and your note of support. I’ve added your site to my Reader as well. Take care! - M

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