Coping with Information overdose

I read and browse a lot, especially when I am travelling. This means I have access to a lot of information, from newspapers to online articles to paper cuttings. I would love to capture all this information at one place, so that I can access it when and where I want, just like I do with my Internet bookmarks.

There are many tools that let you do this, but I think Spring Pad does it better than the others. Spring Pad is a free tool for iPhones and Android phones, and it also works on an iPad. Sadly, Symbian and Java Phones will have to wait to use the app, while others can use limited features through the mobile web browser. There is an alternate tool called Evernote, which you can use across all platforms, but it is still a bit behind Spring Pad.

So how do you use Spring Pad? Let’s say, you are walking on the road and come across an advertisement that has a number, an email address and some other information you would like to capture. The more conventional way would be to grab a piece of paper and pen to write down the relevant information, or maybe just photograph the ad. But with Spring Pad, you can photograph it, tag it and save it on your phone. When you come back home, log on to the website, and you can retrieve that information, even synchronise it with other phones.



If you are looking for a recipe, search for it online and press the Spring Pad button on your browser. The app then stores the recipe, the cooking time, and the ingredients you will need, so that when you are out shopping, you can check Spring Pad on the phone and see what all you have to buy.

That's not all. The Spring Pad can also integrate with your Gmail, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts and create contacts from these accounts, get calendar events from your mail and send alerts to you on your Twitter account.

Just in case you hit upon an idea and can’t access the app for some reason, you can just email it to Spring Pad and it becomes a note, which you can mark or tag later. Spring Pad also allows you to share your information with friends. You can choose what to share, and they can also share information with you. You can also create notebooks from the apps section or add more notebooks such as your household budget calculator or manage your wine collection.
The possibilities are endless, and remember, Spring Pad is still in Beta.

Sure, there is nothing like a small diary and a pen. But then, this is so much better. So what are you waiting for, get yourself a free account at springpadit.com.

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The Above article appeared in the Indian Express on Sunday 25th July 2010