Paperless Mac

I could already hear the groaning as I was drafting the post on using the ScanSnap with Evernote… “but scanning all my documents will be a huge pain in the @$%!”  Up until a year ago (when I purchased my Fujitsu ScanSnap 300m [amazon]), I would have totally agreed.  At that point, I had only used a standalone flatbed scanners and the paper-fed scanner on my all-in-one printer.  Through these experiences, one thing was clear, these instruments were note designed to scan more than a couple of documents at a time.  Then the 300m came along and changed everything for me.  It was one of those moments, like when I got my first ipod, and knew everything would be different from that day forward.

What is so great about this scanner?  Is it really worth $250?  If you are committed to reducing the heaps of paper on your desk, then absolutely!  It is tough to really do the device justice in words, for all of you that have struggled with scanners in the past, I think this video I found on youtube of a ScanSnap 300 in action should do the trick.  A few things to note.  First, as you watch the pages fly through the scanner, the ScanSnap is actually scanning both sides of each page, simultaneously.  Also, as we’ve described, once paired with Evernote, the single action of pressing the button on the ScanSnap does so much.  Documents are uploaded to the Evernote servers, OCRed, made searchable and distributed to all your other computers running Evernote. All of this from one single button push!