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Bobby Travis

This is a post by Bobby Travis, who wrote with me at 40Tech from 2009 through 2012. Bobby has since moved on to bigger and better things, but I've left all of his great contributions up on the site. - Evan

Latest posts by Bobby Travis (see all)

• Easy Access to US, UK Streaming Services From Anywhere - August 18, 2012
• 5 Fresh Android Games Released in 2012 - July 5, 2012
• Google Chrome Explodes On To iOS, Puts Desktop Experience In Your Pocket - June 30, 2012

Last Wednesday, Evernote made the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT they had been marketing for July 14th — it came with a party and everything. Unfortunately, none of what I was hoping would be in the latest release has come about yet; namely the ability to share notebooks via the desktop and mobile apps (and social sharing!). What Evernote did announce was Evernote Trunk, a central repository for API-connected services and devices. While this is not exactly as awesome as what I felt the hype promised, it is a very useful way to find other great services to work into your workflow — and it may well be another revenue stream for Evernote.

Evernote Trunk is being touted by some as Evernote's "App Store",  and has even been heralded as a better model than that of Apple or Google because it expands beyond devices to all platforms, much as Evernote itself does. Currently, you can find a selection of Evernote-integrated products and services (as well as some well — and often — placed Evernote Premium ads), with some of those apps featured prominently over others. The clean and organized interface of the Evernote Trunk has managed to introduce me to a few apps that I was not previously familiar with; it also made me look again at some of the integrated products and services I have previously passed on, or have not gotten around to exploring in more detail.

Here are a few highlights:

Previously covered by 40Tech, here

Another nice feature is the Notebooks section, which allows you to add regularly updated notebooks from Evernote partners, such as Make Magazine, California Home and Design, Cool Hunting, and BlackBook. You can even subscribe to a notebook of Evernote tips and tricks, as well as one of word puzzles and games from Puzzazz.com. This reminds me of features that are part of the core of Springpad's design, which we covered in April of this year. If you are a heavy mobile user and a fan of organization, be warned that the entire contents of each notebook you add will precede everyone of your notes, just as if you added them all yourself today. This can lead to a bit of clutter. It should also be noted that the Notebooks you add do not affect your monthly upload allowance with Evernote.

It seems likely to me that Evernote is using the Evernote Trunk platform as a means to both help its users find useful services, and to provide themselves with further revenue opportunities. Revenue potential could come from the advertising offered to those integrated services found in the Evernote Trunk, and/or by introducing the possibility to purchase directly through the service (this is not possible, currently). As mentioned earlier, they are certainly not shy about pushing their own premium services — I'm not mad at them, though. They need revenue to continue to pay their awesome developers to introduce more fantastic features. Hopefully, the next update will bring about some of the additions I have been patiently waiting for.

What do you think about the Evernote Trunk? Let us know in the comments.