But surprisingly, this software package for Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT is quite clever and extends the functionality of the little sticky bits of paper into useful territory. The basic premise behind the product is that digital Post-it Notes are as necessary in the bits and bytes world as they are in the world of atoms and molecules. If your handwriting muscles have become atrophied and you prefer to type your jottings these days, you typically have to resort to Windows Notepad. This reviewer has text files all over his desktop but digital Post-it Notes could do the job just as effectively. The software offers a desktop icon that pops up a new Post-it when clicked. Notes can be typed and filed in a Memoboard, which is an electronic filing cabinet for the jottings. They can be stored in the Memoboard by category and the software has the ability to create tabs to categorize the Notes. The software is relatively easy to use. There's a one-click feature to create a note, plus a pop-up tool bar to allow access to Memoboards and e-mail. The e-mail feature is particularly useful. The Post-it Notes software detects a user's e-mail address book and uses it to source recipients, again with a single click. The Note, however, is not sent, just the text content of the Note. Even handier is the ability to share Memoboards across a company network. Notes, complete with text and inserted pictures, can be sent to other users on a company network. They pop up on the user's desktop, if they have the software installed -- a feature that helps save trees. They can be personalized with custom colors, an inserted logo or text. The Notes also have an alarm feature, so reminders can be set. The data-sharing feature of this product is probably its strongest point, yet my guess is that it will be its least used feature. Convincing co-workers to think of the paper stickies as digital will probably be an uphill battle. Another issue: do you really want to mess up your desktop with little yellow (or orange or neon green or other custom colored) squares of digital paper? The software has been installed on the test computer for more than a week now and it is starting to get annoying, for no specific reason other than its messing up an already messy desktop. Will it say installed? As yet, I doubt it. It would also be nice if the Notes could be sized down to the dimensions of an icon. They currently can be resized, but not any smaller than three icons side-by-side. The other downside to this product is its limited availability. It is an e-commerce experiment for 3M, so it's only available from the company's Web site at http://www.3m.com/market/office/postit/com_prod/index.html. From there, install files can be downloaded onto a PC, or those that need access to a CD-ROM can order the software for delivery. The software requires 7 Mb of space for installation. The product is fun and ingenious to play with, but its flaw is that Post-it Notes (paper or digital) by their very nature are messy and intrusive. Luckily, this is one product with which you can make that decision yourself. There's a free download trial available at the Web address mentioned above. Reviewer's Rating: 4 / 5 stars. Comments: Intriguing extension of a product from the real world, but do we really need them? Price: $24.95 US full version (download). $14.95 US for upgrade from version 1.0 (download). $29.95 US for CD-ROM version. $19.95 US for CD-ROM upgrade version.   
Copyright © Cyberwalker Media Inc. 2002
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