Apps-olutely Underwhelmed: My Adventures In App Testing

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A few posts ago, I wrote about my battle with becoming more digitally literate and what I planned to do to become more so. I've actually delved into a few of the apps I vowed I would investigate. Here's an update.

Spotify - Interesting concept. I downloaded it onto my laptop and enjoyed scrolling through what my friends were listening to in real time. I even introduced my ears to some new sounds. But, ultimately, I decided that Spotify isn't for me. First, every time I booted up my computer Spotify kicked in automatically. It took forever to load, but not so long to annoy me. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the app out of my start up. Second, why I thought I would like Spotify is beyond me because I can't listen to music and do serious work at the same time. My brain isn't wired for that. Third, truth be told, I don't have the opportunity to listen to music all that much except when I'm in  my car, and my car isn't new-fangled enough to allow me easily listen to Spotify. So, I uninstalled it from my computer and went on my merry way.

Livebinder - I tested this out instead of Evernote (which I still plan to give a spin). Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but I found it kind of a pain to use. Laborious and clunky. Too many steps. It's way easier for me to bookmark a site on my Favorites. Instant access to the full page. Granted, if my computer crashes then I've lost my research but I'll deal with that. So, I stopped using it and went on my merry way.

Mint.com - I've been looking for a new way to compile my budget instead of manually plugging data into a spreadsheet. Mint.com looked promising. But I hesitated when it asked me to turn over my financial account numbers. I know, I know. Mint.com has the same security as my bank. But I just couldn't punch in the numbers and hand over the data. So, I shut my browser and went on my merry way.

For now, I'm 0 for 3 on app-alicious-ness. I still have a few I want to test out, and new apps are popping up every day.

How about you? What new apps are you excited about? Please share!

Thanks for reading ... It keeps your Mind Full of Literacy