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2 Reasons Why I Won’t Be Trying Google’s Evernote and Springpad Competitor

google keep on the wayCould Google be launching a competitor to Evernote and Springpad? Google scrapped its Notebooks app quite some time ago, but according to a story on the Verge yesterday, it looks like the company might be ready to get back into the note taking app business. Would you give it a try?

I’m sure that Google will insert many hooks into its other services, that will make the app very tempting. Still, there are a couple of reasons that I probably won’t be leaving Evernote anytime soon.

Here’s the meat of the story from the Verge:

Android Police reports that a new note-taking app called Google Keep will let you take notes, which you can color-code and add pictures to, as well as use to build checklists. The idea is reminiscent of Google’s failed Notebook service and products like Evernote, although with a seemingly trimmed-down feature set.

I have some concerns myself. First, I’ve lost faith in Google’s desire to keep apps going after I invest in them. This happened with Google Reader, and years ago with Notebooks, to name just a few. Second, Google is in the advertising business, and wants to learn as much about us as possible. I store tons of information in Evernote. I’ve bit the bullet with Gmail, given its superiority to other email clients. But with other good choices out there, I don’t think I’d do the same with a note taking app unless it was mind blowing. I’m not too invested in Google Drive yet, so even a tight integration with Drive wouldn’t bring me around.

Would you give a Google note taking app a fair shot? What features would it need?