I've been an Evernote user for quite some time. And I love the service. I've put a LOT of information in my Evernote account. Customer notes and information, recipes that look good (I can't cook. Don't know why I do that), personal information, etc. One thing has bothered me, though; it's very hard to actually get your information out of Evernote. Oh, sure, you can export an XML of your "stuff". But, really?
I've long hated the idea of locking myself into a specific vendor's proprietary environment. That's why I don't use Microsoft Office. Office formats aren't industry standard, just like Internet Exploder (not a typo, I meant that). So I would prefer, when possible, to use an industry standard product, or at least be able to get my "stuff" out when I want to. There has always been that issue in the back of my mind when using Evernote.
Enter Bitcasa (http://www.bitcasa.com). From the Bitcasa site:
- "Bitcasa allows you to store, access, and share everything you’ve ever owned – every picture, every movie, every document, every song – without limits and without the worry of running out of space. With the Bitcasa Infinite Drive, you are able to access all your files, photos, playlists, videos and docs anytime, anywhere."
I've been using Bitcasa in Beta since they started, better part of a year now. There was some rough spots during that time. But they were quick to fix any issues. They have now, as of February 6, 2013, come out of Beta. They have a Mac and Windows app, an Android and iPhone app and the website where you can get to all of your data all of the time. Sure, if you don't have Internet access and haven't "Favorited" any of your stuff, then you can't get to it. But, at least for me, Internet access is ubiquitous enough so that's not a problem, so far. And their pricing is fair, as far as I'm concerned. Up to 10GB of storage is free. After that, unlimited storage, and I mean truly unlimited storage, is $10 per month.
I could go on and on about their service and what they can do for you. Are they for everyone? Of course not. There will be those that don't like it, those that complain about the service, etc. But for me, being able to store ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in Bitcasa, and, more importantly, being able to get it out in it's original format any time I want to, is huge.
Security? Well, it's client-side encrypted. Which simply means that even their employees can't get to your data. So even if their site gets hacked, your data is safe. I'm in no way affiliated with Bitcasa, other than giving them my money so I can benefit from their service. So there's no payoff for writing a favorable post about them. I just like their service and think you will, too.