Giving Cultured Code a hard time is the cool thing to do these days. Folks all over the great series of tubes we call the internet are ragging on CC and their flagship product, Things. Anybody who's everybody is speaking their mind about Things. Most of these folks are converts, or thinking about becoming converts, to Omnifocus.

Two months back, I wrote about my thoughts on the matter. The great Things vs Omnifocus matter. If you haven't read that article yet, you should. It's not very long, as is the case with most things I write. For those of you who prefer pictures, I think this should explain pretty well why I'm not going the Omnifocus route.

Things works as advertised

When I bought Things, the only sync option was for WiFi sync. It's an imperfect solution, to be sure. However, it works exactly as promised. Cultured Code has been working on an Over the Air sync solution for a long time now... probably too long. However it's a future feature, and should not be considered for a purchase today.

Omnifocus gives me seizures

Sure, it has OTA sync. No matter where you add / complete / edit tasks, you always have the most recent version. The sync works across multiple Macs, iPhone, and iPad. That's a serious advantage, to be sure. However, the user interface gives me seizures. I literally have no idea what to do when I open OF.

Projects, Contexts, Due, Flagged, Grouping, Filters, Sorting, Status, Library, etc etc. I'm a smart guy but that makes my head absolutely pound. Folks have told me to give it a change. They've told me to try training videos.

Training videos. For a task manager.

Sure, if I invest hours into training... hours into learning how to maximize my use of Omnifocus, I don't doubt that it could be a great system. But this doesn't seem very, well, simple to me. Task managers are supposed to help you get things done. They are supposed to be simple to use, and get out of the way. I feel like I need a task manager full of projects and tasks just to help me learn how to use Omnifocus.

I'll pass on the bandwagon

Even though it's the cool thing to do these days, I won't be bashing Cultured Code or Things. Things isn't perfect by any means, but it's a great piece of software that does what I need. It gets out of my way and lets me get work done. Using Things is simple and intuitive. Isn't that exactly how it's supposed to be?

Last month I wrote about Notational Velocity, my favorite writing app for OS X. Notational Velocity's counterpart on iOS is the lovely SimpleNote. Completely and fully functional as a standalone app, SimpleNote is a very, well, simple, writing app for iOS. I use it daily on my iPhone 4.

To use SimpleNote, you'll need to create a free account. You can do this from the iOS app or on the SimpleNote website. It takes about 4 seconds - there's no possible way it could be easier. Set your email address, pick a password, and you're done. My kind of setup.

Once your account is set up, you can get started. Since it's your first time, all you'll see is a search field, plus sign, and a big blank white area. Once you start creating notes, they'll go in that space. When you want to create a note, press the plus sign and start typing. Your first line is the title, so no need to worry about that. When you're finished up, just press back. No saving - that's all automatic. Remember, this app is all about simplicity.

• No thinking of titles.
• No text formatting.
• No remembering to save.
• No organizing.

SimpleNote is as much about what isn't there, as what is there. There are no fancy organization schemes. There are no extra buttons. There is no clutter. There are no distractions. In fact, the latest version of SimpleNote added an excellent full-screen mode.

Search

When you want to find a note, whether for reference or to edit it, simply type a word or two into the search bar. All notes that contain those words will appear below in real time.

Sync with Notational Velocity

All your notes live on SimpleNote's servers. If your iOS device dies, you don't lose your notes - simply install SN on your new device and you're up and running very quickly.

Maybe the killer feature of SN is the ability to sync with Notational Velocity. Any notes that you create on your iOS device can be edited on your Mac using NV, and vice versa. If you use the NV DropBox storage trick, then all your notes live in three separate places: your hard drive, SimpleNote's servers, and DropBox's servers. That's one heck of a backup system - and it's all completely automated.

Versioning

Down on the toolbar of SN is a little clock icon. Press it, and you can choose between several older versions of your note to roll back to. Take a minute to think about how useful this could be.

Say you edit a note, and accidentally edit out a large portion by mistake. Unfortunately you don't realize for a few days. No problem with SN - just roll back to the older version - your hard work is back. If you have a tendency to edit a little too ruthlessly, this is a killer feature.

Sharing and Collaboration

Let's say you have a note written up, but you need some help with it. Rather than hand over your iPhone, SN has a much, much better solution. Press the icon in the bottom left to bring up your Sharing menu. Switch "Publish Web Page" to on, and an email appears. This email contains a link to your note in web page form - and this web-note syncs with your SN note. Send it to whoever, and get your collaboration on.

Final Thoughts

Simple Note is the best note-taking and text document storing application on iOS. Period. It is amazingly simple to use. The syncing options with Notational Velocity and DropBox mean your data is as safe as it could possibly be. None of this requires any technical ability - it's all dead simple. That's exactly why I love SimpleNote.

Instead of sitting around thinking "What pile of flashy new, semi-useful features can we add today?" , they instead seem to ask "What's the bare minimum amount of incredibly useful features needed to store notes?" The difference in philosophy is clear. SimpleNote makes writing on my iPhone a joy. It's simple. It's seamless. It works. And it works amazingly well. All the features I covered today are included with the free version of SimpleNote. If you have an iOS device, you have to try it.

I'll skip the pictures. You've seen it by now, and I'm no photographer. It's really nice, though. I'll skip fawning over the battery too. It lasts ridiculously long. Seriously, it'll amaze you, even if you have high expectations. OK, I guess I fawned a bit... I'm done though. Promise.

Obvious First Impressions

It's fast. Really, really fast. Everything I've used so far opens instantly. The animations are all buttery smooth. No doubt applications will come along that test the performance of this machine, but not just yet.

The white is stunning.

When I bought the iPhone 4 last year, I was bummed about the lack of white. Not so bummed that I waited, of course. I'm a nerd. But nothing but white would do for the iPad 2. And it's absolutely stunning. Sure, you can see the FaceTime camera, which you really can't on the black model. But the white bezel gives the device a very classic Apple feel to it. There is a small black border between the screen and the bezel. If this sort of thing bothers you, get the black. I don't think it takes away from the look at all.

Extremely thin. Feels pretty great really — easy enough to hold in one hand. The aluminum back is still slippery though.

Smart cover

So far I like it, but I don't love it. It makes carrying the iPad 2 very comfortable. The screen is protected, and the leather provides enough grip so i'm not in fear of dropping it.

As a stand, it's stable enough for watching videos, but not stable enough to work on. In other words, if you plan on doing much tapping while your iPad is vertical, get one of those fancy aluminum stands.

When using the iPad, I go back and forth between folding the cover behind the iPad flat, folding into the triangle, and removing it altogether. I'm sure I'll develop a preference, but i don't have one yet. This is when using it in landscape mode, of course. In portrait (almost exclusively for Instapaper,) I fold the cover flat or remove it.

On 32 GB

I chose the 32GB white WIFI only model. I have no need for 3G connectivity on the iPad, and no interest in yet another monthly bill. My only real decision here was 16 or 32 GB. When I arrived at Best Buy on launch day, all the 16GB models were sold out, so my decision became simple. I was already leaning toward the 32 anyway. For an extra $100, I wouldn't have to bother with shuffling around movies or apps to make sure everything would fit. If I never come close to using all the space, I'll buy the 16 next time around. For now, I would rather not have to worry about space.

On replacing a MacBook Pro

Until launch day, I used a combination of an iMac and a MacBook Pro for my side business. I purchased the MacBook Pro so I could get work done from the couch, dining room table, or wherever I happened to be. As it turns out, I need a big (24"+) screen to get any heavy work done. Even though my MacBook Pro was the fastest computer I've ever used, I wasn't using it enough. I certainly wasn't using it to its full capabilities.

This ridiculously powerful machine was relegated to being a big iPhone. I used Notational Velocity, Things, Reeder, and Safari. That was pretty much it. My beloved Coda went mostly unused, simply because 15" of screen real estate isn't enough for me to do any design / code.

The iPad 2 will be able to handle all these tasks, arguably better than the MacBook Pro. The small size and instant-on nature mean I use it much more often. Here's a list of my current most-used apps so far:

Apps

• SimpleNote
• Things
• Instapaper
• Quickoffice
• Reeder
• TextExpander
• Twitter
• Evernote

Random Notes

Sure, I can write faster on a full keyboard. But the landscape iPad keyboard is decent enough for short pieces. (I wrote 90% of this article on the iPad. The finishing touches were done on my iMac.) Using TextExpander improves my typing speed as well, especially for any HTML characters.

Things on iPad lets me process my task lists quickly, and weekly reviews are a breeze. Instapaper needs no introduction — it belongs on everyone's iPhone / iPad. Reading (mostly via Instapaper) has quickly become my most common use of this device. It's simply a divine reading experience.

This device is a perfect notebook replacement for me. In stark contrast to my reasons for ditching the first generation iPad. Back then I thought I needed more. More power, more capabilities. Turns out, I was dead wrong. What I needed was simplicity and ease of use.

There's really only one way to get any meaningful work done. That way is to isolate yourself from the world as completely as possible.

Other humans may inspire you at times. You may get ideas from the thing you see and hear. But inevitably, distraction will prevent any real work from being done.

Try writing anything worth reading when the people around you interrupt every eleven seconds. No really, try it. If you make it through more than a couple paragraphs then perhaps you should apply for sainthood. Mere mortals will get frustrated.

Time, of course, isn't the issue. Constant distraction by the people around you is the problem. This is as true for work as it is for education. Those study partners who you think are helping you learn? They're making your homework take twice as long.

Find yourself a nice quiet place and lock yourself in. If you must work in the outside world, toss on some earphones and put on some calming music. No Metallica. Just something to drown out the noise, and keep those distractions at bay.

The result of this isolation? Pure bliss. The ability to get more done in less time. Better work. More free time.

In the next room sits a 24", dual core, 4GB of RAM iMac. Two years ago it was a powerhouse, and it's still pretty great today, all things considered. Yet I write this from my bedroom, on an iPad hooked up wirelessly to a bluetooth keyboard.

A huge hunk of powerful glass and metal sit, unused. Today, right now, for this task, it's not the best tool. The distractions it offer are too many. Sure, it's great for many, many things. For designing and coding websites, it is certainly the best tool. But for writing? Perhaps not.

The iPad can multitask these days, of course... but not in the same manner as a desktop computer. I can only see the app I'm working on at the moment, and nothing else. Since I'm using Simplenote in full screen mode... all I can see is the text that I'm writing.

No dock. No Safari. No Twitter. No Google Plus. No multitouch trackpad to make flicking through apps a breeze. Nothing. Just words on a screen.

Sometimes, that's exactly what you need. This isn't meant to be profound... but if I didn't step away from the desktop, these words wouldn't exist at all. That's enough reason for me to step away once in awhile.

Much has been said about Notational Velocity. This application is growing to be my favorite OS X app of all. If there's a better tool for pure writing on the Mac, I don't know what it is.

What is Notational Velocity?

A note creation and storage application. A very simple application at that. Open it up, and there are three sections. A search / title bar, a list of notes, and the writing area. If you want to find a note, start typing in the search box. The search is instant, and changes as you type. To select the note, use the down arrow key. The content of the note is displayed below, where you can edit to your heart's content.

Let's say you don't find what you're looking for, and want to create a new note. When you're done typing, just press enter. A new note is created automatically, and the cursor moves down to the writing area. Get to work.

How do I save?

You don't, of course. Notational Velocity saves automatically (Are you getting tired of that word yet?) every few seconds. You never have to worry about forgetting to save, or application crashes. You type it, it's staying put.

Keyboard Shortcuts

When you're in NV, the mouse could fall off a cliff and die, and it wouldn't matter a bit to you. Sure, you can use it, if you like working slowly and less efficiently. Instead, use these simply keyboard shortcuts.

• Esc – Exit your current note and go to the search bar; start fresh
• ⌘ L – Jump to the Title / Search Bar without exiting your current note
• ⌘ R – Rename your current note
• ⌘ B – Embolden your text
• ⌘ E – Export current note (in plain text, of course)

There are more, of course. These are the only ones I use, and they handle everything I need.

Backup and Synchronization

Notational Velocity has the best possible solution for backup and synchronization in place. All notes are stored as plain text files, so long as you select this option in the preferences. Plain text is the simplest format known to man, which means extremely low chance / zero chance of file corruption. There's also a way to keep your text files in your Dropbox account. The process is extremely simple, following these steps.

Simplenote

This is where NV really shines. You can synchronize your data with the lovely Simplenote.

Just put in your Simplenote username and password, and you're done. Any notes / edits you make in Notational Velocity are available in Simplenote, and vice versa. No fighting with configuration - it just works. And it works very, very well. I use the Simplenote app on my iPhone along with NV for the ultimate writing combination. The pricing of the combo is pretty impressive too.

Notational Velocity: Free. Simplenote: Free.

The best solution available, at any price, and it costs nothing.

This post, just like nearly every post on this site, was written in Notational Velocity. I love the interface, and it allows me to keep a backup of everything I write. If you write at all... whether in large volume or just tons of little notes... get NV and Simplenote. Thank me later.

You're at work, working on whatever the project of the day is. Your boss / coworker barges frantically in to your office with a new task / folder / project / whatever.

The world will literally light on FIRE if this doesn't get handled in the next eleven minutes. FIRE!

Since you don't want the world to, you know, LIGHT ON FIRE, your instinct is to stop what you're doing and frantically set about to handle this shiny new task.

Instead of following your instincts on this one, stop for a minute. Breathe. Think about the task. The world probably won't actually light on fire if this isn't handled right away. Finish what you're working on, then get your new stuff handled.

Chances are that everything will be just fine, even if this ultra-super-mega important task isn't completed right this minute. The person who brought you the task was probably over-reacting. He was probably too worked up about the whole thing. That doesn't mean you need to follow along.

Don't let others control your mood. Don't let others change the way you work. Relax, focus, and get things done, your way.

About two months back, I asked Twitter for input regarding a to-do system. At the time I was using Google Tasks, and it really wasn't up to the task. (Yes, I know that was lame.)

These were my requirements:

• Mac application
• iPhone app
• General awesomeness

These were my wants:

• Cloud syncing
• An app that would actually do the work for me

Needless to say, I struck out on the last item. Today's crop of to-do apps just aren't able to handle that. Maybe in a few years, once the machines have taken over.

Anyway, responses came back for two separate suites of apps: Things and OmniFocus. The general idea was that Things was simple, beautiful, yet powerful, while OmniFocus was an absolute powerhouse.

After a bit of debate, , and a 14 day trial, I spent my $60, and chose Things - purchasing both the Mac app and iPhone app. Since then, Cultured Code has pushed out one major Things iPhone update. They added support for retina display (yay), multitasking (yay), and local notifications (almost).

Talk about missing the mark... Local notifications in this case means one single notification for all your to-do's at a single time during the day. You get to pick the time though. Oh, that's not how it's supposed to work? Anyway...

Besides this glaring omissions, and the whole cloud sync thing, Things works very well for me.

All the cool kids have moved on

These days though, anybody who's anybody has moved on from Things. That's right, all the cool kids are using Omnifocus these days.

I'm perfectly OK with that.

Several very smart people who's opinions I value have switched to and love using Omnifocus. I have no doubt it's feature-packed and fantastic. Here's the thing, though:

Things does what I need it to, pretty darn well.

A few small points aside, Things is perfect. It's powerful while remaining simple. The interface on both OS X and iOS is beautiful. Everything is where you would expect it to be, and you never have to ask "how do I..."

Things lets you get stuff done without having a degree in advanced calculus or biometrics.

If Cultured Code ever gets around to adding cloud sync, and fixes the silly iPhone local notifications, Things will be just about perfect.

The point of all this is simple: if the tool you are currently using works well for you, consider yourself all set. Shiny new tools will always come along with new features. You can go learn new tools, or keep using your tried and true tools that have never let you down. In other words - do you want to learn a new system, or simply get your work done?

Constantly looking for better ways to do things, and better ways to be organized has another name - procrastination. In other words, its not work. You're not actually doing anything. Stop procrastination; start doing.

Way back on July 26th of this year, the bulb on my 65" Toshiba HDTV displayed it's last picture. Today marks the third week that I've been without my previously beloved, massive television. And you know what? I don't miss it.

Sure, there are rare times when we're downstairs and wish, for a moment, that the TV worked. But that moment quickly passes, and my wife and I spend the time talking instead. Sometimes we even straighten up the kitchen while we talk – something that sadly gets neglected too often.

Since our big TV died, our television time has dipped dramatically. Sure, there are other TV's in the house, but none are as compelling as that massive screen in the living room was. Instead of staring at the giant glowing box, we're finding other ways to pass the time.

• Talking.
• Getting rid of junk.
• Getting on each other's nerves on purpose¹.
• The point is, we lost something that used to take up a lot of our time. Instead of complaining about it, we're embracing it. I'm no longer worried about spending the $250 or so to get a new bulb. It'll happen when it happens, and I'm in no rush.

Banking has come a long way in my lifetime. When I opened my first bank account, there was no such thing as online bill pay. Heck, the internet wasn't even around, or if it was, I didn't know about it.

ATM's were just barely beginning to become popular. Huge overdraft fees weren't really in place then. If you didn't have any money, you couldn't spend any money - it was pretty simple in many ways.

Some of the changes in the banking industry have been very welcome indeed. Online bill pay, for example, makes my financial life drastically simpler.

However, the way banks profit has changed, and not for the better. A huge percentage of bank profits these days is from fees - ATM fees, overdraft fees, maintenance fees, F-You fees, you get the picture. It's gotten out of control, and away from how banks began.

Bank Simple eliminates the confusion.

No hidden fees. No overdraft fees. No fee for online bill pay. No markup on the fees they do charge. Meaning, if an international transfer costs Bank Simple $15, you pay $15.

How does Simple Bank intend to make a profit?

The same way banks used to profit - interest spread. For example, they pay out 4% on the deposit accounts, and charge an average of 9% on loans. The spread, or 5% in this case, covers losses and, hopefully, generates a profit.

There's a killer feature.

Bank Simple took this out of USAA's playbook. With a special smartphone app, you can take a picture of a check, and it's instantly deposited into your Bank Simple account. No more running to the bank to deposit your check, or caching it at a liquor store (generally a terrible idea, by the way.)

There is one little catch though.

No, the catch is not a fee - Bank Simple doesn't do that, remember? The catch is that Bank Simple isn't open yet. The plan is to launch sometime this year, though there is no firm date yet. You can request an invite, however.

It's OK to be leery of a new bank. But I really like Bank Simple's vision. I like their business model. This is a company I'd like to do business with, and I look forward to doing just that.