Post-it Notes go digital

Post-it Notes, those sticky slips for quick reminders from 3M, have adorned desks, bathroom mirrors and planners for decades. Now the company has an application to put digital notes on your iPhone.

With PopUps, a combination social network and reminder service, the company has aimed to bring the organization tool into the digital age. Users can type or draw notes and set them to pop up in certain locations. Got a friend landing at the airport? You can set a note to pop up a welcome message.

It’s a great theory, but the execution is far from flawless. Paper notes are easy, quick and digestible. But setting up a note requires you to set location, expiration and privacy limits. Those are all vitally important for protecting consumers -- and the app requires account registration -- but doesn’t scream convenience. Setting the location for a note can be buggy, too, and some messages took a couple of tries to get the note to stick.