…sort of like a doggy bag for the Internet!
There are so many websites with so many posts, that occasionally, you come across one that is not only worth your time reading, but worth saving for later! Instead of just bookmarking it, or — heaven forbid — printing it out (does anyone do that anymore?), there are several very good ways to save a link to the page. The three listed below are free services, though some have additional features that you can get with a paid subscription.
Instapaper is one very popular link-saving service. By adding a plug-in to your web browser, you can save any web page for later reading. And with apps for smartphones and tablets, you can read those articles anywhere. Instapaper works with all the major web browsers, giving you a toolbar button for saving pages. And your Instapaper account automatically gets a unique email address, so you can email links to articles to yourself for later reading. While viewing your list of saved articles, you can edit labels, add tags, organize your saved pages in folders, and remove articles you no longer want to save. There are also social sharing features, so you can use Facebook and Twitter to pass on articles to your friends.
Pocket (formerly Read It Later) is another option, giving you a button in your toolbar for saving web pages. There aren’t as many features in the web version of their service, but the smartphone apps for iOS and Android let you share your links via Facebook and Twitter. And Pocket also has a way for you to email articles into your reading list.
If you want something with even more functionality, you can go with Evernote. They have the same basic tools: a button in your web browser, mobile apps, and email saving capabilities. But Evernote also lets you save text clippings from web pages, images and files from your computer, and all sorts of media. There are desktop applications for Windows and Mac OS X, letting you organize your saved information in folders, and quickly add new files and information with drag-and-drop simplicity. And they have smartphone and tablet apps that use your Evernote storage for information collections about people, food, and even school work.
This just scratches the surface of this kind of product. If you have other favorite web-clipping solutions, or if you have any questions about selecting and using these services, click here to contact me.
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