Note-taking and web-clipping service Springpad got a major update this week, with a new look and more emphasis on social notebooks. Unfortunately, although the new UI is beautiful, the overhaul has alienated loyal Springpad users (including myself), who want to use the app as a productivity tool, not as a social bookmarking one.
Social/sharing was built into Springpad from the start, but it wasn't a spotlight feature like it is becoming now in version 3. You can see the influence of Pinterest, Facebook, and the like, in Springpad's latest iteration. At the notebook level you can now control sharing and privacy settings and ?follow friends' specific notebooks, much like you can follow Pinterest users' boards.
Public notebooks in Springpad--under the Explore tab--help you find inspiration for new notebooks or notes for your own notebooks. Much like, again, Pinterest.
Some might say Springpad is copying Pinterest, but Springpad has long had a beautiful grid interface, with notebooks laid out on a custom background (predating Wunderlist, Pinterest, and others, in fact). This latest redesign, if anything--while perhaps refreshing and sharp--is a step backwards--or perhaps many steps backwards.
Checking the Getsatisfaction page on the new Springpad version, you'll note more than a few issues have been cropping up, including lost notes, attachments, and links. It is a great sign, however, that team Springpad is responsive to users' feedback and concerns.
Complaints about the redesign include the notebook icons being too large and fonts too big on the mobile and even desktop displays. And I used to really, really dig Springpad most of all for its stunning cork-board interface that was truly unique and helpful for organizing all your notes and everything you want to remember. Now it seems the most unique part of Springpad has been buried and all of the notebooks and notes are more uniform in look.
With the latest update, Springpad also removed offline capabilities from the Springpad Chrome app (the Springpad blog post gives no reason why).
If you want a way to share your Springpad notebooks more easily with distant social followers, then this update may make you happy. Otherwise, like other Springpad users, you may be very disappointed, as there are really no productivity enhancements in this latest version and you might even find it less usable (I used to be able to open Springpad in a tab in Thunderbird, but can't do so any longer).
If you haven't used Springpad yet, you might find it an attractive alternative to Pinterest and Evernote, as it offers a bit of both . Perhaps that's what the team was going for with the latest update.
Do you use Springpad, and if so, what do you think of the redesign?
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