July 26, 2006

Voice Notes a la Backpack

I have decent commute (30 to 45 minutes each way) and I hate wasting that time. I typically either use that time to make phone calls that I need/want to make or listen to podcast dealing with topics such as development, architecture, technology, and business.

The problem I have, as can be noticed by the litter of scribbled on receipts and note cards in my vehicle, is that many of these podcast have such great content (why else would I invest my time listening to them) that I want to make note of things directly in the show or ideas that come to mind as a result of hearing the show as I don't want to risk forgetting about them.

Well, I think it is obvious, scribbling notes on the back of receipts while traveling 70+ mph in traffic is not only going to produce near illegible text, but is also not the safest thing in the world to do. I hope my car insurance agent doesn't read my blog…

Anyway, there is a new tool mentioned by Jason at the 37signals Signal vs. Noise blog that will allow you to simply call a number, leave a message, and have it show up in your Backpack for later reference. What a fabulous idea.

I think it is the single idea that will get me using Backpack. I am a big OneNote user and store all the other Backpack type information in OneNote and until now haven't had a use for it, despite its appeal.

Maybe a good OneNote PowerToy to write would be one that could sync with your Backpack and pull down all new voice messages.