It's a tall order. The idea that you can save almost all digital information and then retrieve it at a moment's notice is a great one -- especially to information magpies who want to hold onto a huge amount of data but don't have the time or the inclination to organize it. But how well do these two programs fulfill that promise?

I worked with Evernote and Springpad for several weeks, using them both as professional tools and for personal information storage. I compared the two based on a variety of factors, from the features of their interfaces to their support for social networking. Interestingly, while both applications handle a wide variety of data and are designed for the same purpose -- to help users track everything -- each has a very different approach. Your choice will probably depend on what type of interface you're comfortable with and the type of data you tend to work with.

Note: Most of my observations are based on experiences working on Windows-based laptops and an Android-based Droid smartphone. You might encounter some differences if you use Evernote or Springpad on OS X- and iOS-based devices, but the main functionality is the same.

The first major difference between Evernote and Springpad is in the access they provide to your stored data: a hybrid local/cloud approach versus an all-cloud service.