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"Notes is a document creation, editing, and storage system." Strangely, at the last (and only, thankfully) place where I had to use Notes, it was not used for

"Notes is a document creation, editing, and storage system." Strangely, at the last (and only, thankfully) place where I had to use Notes, it was not used for that purpose. Instead, it was used as an e-mail system and an inventory management tool.

baldfat 10y ago
I actually found Notes to be an amazing tool and found it to be a great system to work with. I just wish they kept the development going with a strong user experience in mind. I found my love of using PIM in Notes.
- glhaynes 10y ago
  It seems like everybody who ever used Notes either loved it or hated it. Makes me wish I'd ever used it. Or glad I haven't?
  - baldfat 10y ago
    You can still use it. The UI was not for the Non-Tech crowd and even then drove everyone a little batty. F5 in Notes locked your account as opposed to Refresh and the like. Different parts of the program would have very different UIs. I didn't mind it. They say more people use it now then ever but ....
- chaosite 10y ago
  To be honest, I had the pleasure of using the Hebrew version of Lotus Notes. In addition to all the usual Notes gripes, the Hebrew translation was very buggy.
NikolaNovak 10y ago
That seems common. As collaborative software, quick way to create databases, documents, forms, wikis etc - it ain't half-bad, especially considering its legacy and customers (large corporations unlikely to purchase any new, "cool" startup-like collaborative spaces). As an email system (which is what I have to use it as), it leaves much to be desired, including performance.
derefr 10y ago
Even within IBM, Lotus Notes is "just" the email system. Mind you, the Notes e-mail system is a Lotus Notes document. Just like a web-app is a web page.
greedo 10y ago
My company uses Notes, for both email and applications. We have a huge number of custom apps that perform a litany of company operations. From requesting PTO to biz workflow. Scares me everyday I log in.
codingdave 10y ago
Before IBM bought it, Lotus was planning on killing the email functions, and just leaving it as a database and application system. IBM was a mixed blessing to the product - they made it large enough to succeed, but also totally messed with its purpose. IBM used it as email first, application server 2nd. That was never its strength. Oddly, IBM has since spent the last 20 years proclaiming it to be more than email, while showing the same old demos of how sales people can live out of their email box. In short, IBM owned it, but never used it or promoted it in a good way. Believe it or not, it still is a highly functional NoSQL database, with strong security, and can be put behind other web servers... so while it is mostly a dead platform, some folks do still use it. (If you find one of the few people who know how.) But so much crap has been built with it, it has a terrible reputation. Even most of the people still using it are doing so poorly. Most of the people who do know how to use it well have moved on to new technologies, and the folks I know who still use it don't intend to stay with it much longer. Really it was ahead of its time, but got side-tracked and messed up instead of growing into its full potential.
- brazzledazzle 10y ago
  I get the impression that anything that aims to be an accessible platform for building business collaboration apps is doomed to get a bad reputation (whether it's earned or not) because any crappy app built on it is going to put a sour taste for the platform in the mouth of anyone that uses it. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

baldfat 10y ago

I actually found Notes to be an amazing tool and found it to be a great system to work with. I just wish they kept the development going with a strong user experience in mind. I found my love of using PIM in Notes.

glhaynes 10y ago
It seems like everybody who ever used Notes either loved it or hated it. Makes me wish I'd ever used it. Or glad I haven't?
- baldfat 10y ago
  You can still use it. The UI was not for the Non-Tech crowd and even then drove everyone a little batty. F5 in Notes locked your account as opposed to Refresh and the like. Different parts of the program would have very different UIs. I didn't mind it. They say more people use it now then ever but ....
chaosite 10y ago
To be honest, I had the pleasure of using the Hebrew version of Lotus Notes. In addition to all the usual Notes gripes, the Hebrew translation was very buggy.

NikolaNovak 10y ago

That seems common. As collaborative software, quick way to create databases, documents, forms, wikis etc - it ain't half-bad, especially considering its legacy and customers (large corporations unlikely to purchase any new, "cool" startup-like collaborative spaces). As an email system (which is what I have to use it as), it leaves much to be desired, including performance.

derefr 10y ago

Even within IBM, Lotus Notes is "just" the email system. Mind you, the Notes e-mail system is a Lotus Notes document. Just like a web-app is a web page.

greedo 10y ago

My company uses Notes, for both email and applications. We have a huge number of custom apps that perform a litany of company operations. From requesting PTO to biz workflow. Scares me everyday I log in.

codingdave 10y ago

Before IBM bought it, Lotus was planning on killing the email functions, and just leaving it as a database and application system. IBM was a mixed blessing to the product - they made it large enough to succeed, but also totally messed with its purpose. IBM used it as email first, application server 2nd. That was never its strength. Oddly, IBM has since spent the last 20 years proclaiming it to be more than email, while showing the same old demos of how sales people can live out of their email box. In short, IBM owned it, but never used it or promoted it in a good way. Believe it or not, it still is a highly functional NoSQL database, with strong security, and can be put behind other web servers... so while it is mostly a dead platform, some folks do still use it. (If you find one of the few people who know how.) But so much crap has been built with it, it has a terrible reputation. Even most of the people still using it are doing so poorly. Most of the people who do know how to use it well have moved on to new technologies, and the folks I know who still use it don't intend to stay with it much longer. Really it was ahead of its time, but got side-tracked and messed up instead of growing into its full potential.

brazzledazzle 10y ago
I get the impression that anything that aims to be an accessible platform for building business collaboration apps is doomed to get a bad reputation (whether it's earned or not) because any crappy app built on it is going to put a sour taste for the platform in the mouth of anyone that uses it. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.