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Re: MyInfo 3, Jot+, etc., and the vital need for calendars
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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.
Outliners.com Message ID: 2354
Posted by srdiamond15
2004-12-27 15:25:35
As a beta tester for ADM—and one of the more active ones, along with Daly, at that—I think we need to go beyond what the program developers profess to the less rational inclinations that obstruct the program’s development. To my mind, the problem is too much “fine tuning” and too little integrative thought, beyond slogans like combining outlining with database functions. While the program has some of the most powerful outlining features around, their scope is quite limited. Outlining is not employed at all in the note cards (making it inferior as a notetaker to MS OneNote); as I argued before, outlining is ignored in the key words functionality and a single function is artificially partitioned. That is, unlike MDE InfoHandler, Idea!, and UltraRecall, ADM does not have hierarchical key words. In encourages the use of a flat keyword scheme that is inferior to a function ADM already had, cloning within the outline.
It looks increasingly to me that it isn’t possible to combine the strongest, most ergonomic outlining with a database function. I wish I could actually see GrandView, but I have looked at Ecco, and its outlining flexibility is nothing to write home about. If there were a way to resolve the bet, I’d be happy to wager that Grandview comes nowhere near NoteMap and BrainStorm in ergonomics and basic outlining power, and that Grandview’s massive database functionality must have detracted from its ability to provide the ultimate in a pure outlining experience.
I find ADM useful mainly for keeping structured hierarchical lists. I think it is the best program around for that purpose, but the problem is, how many people will pay top dollar for a highly sophisticated list keeper. Such lists are not central to my work or play. I think they may be for some of the other beta testers.
The distinction between a business and knowledge management (and professional) pims was inductive. You have one cluster of programs that lack calendars but are very strong in outlining functionality. Another group has calendars and todos, elaborate formatting and tolerance for all sorts of file types but are backward in outlining. I don’t think you can name a single program that crosses the boundary, that is very strong in outlining but has a calendar or to do list. You have Treepad Business, for instance, that has calendar and to do integration and acceptance of images directly into its notes, but you can’t even select multiple headings, even if they are contiguous. Jot Plus Notes is like this too.
You haven’t given me a single exception to this generalization about correlated features, yet you say it is all in my head. Steve Zeoli at least provided counter-examples, but the programs he mentioned are all dead. So their significance is equivocal—I would be apt to say they are the exceptions that prove the rule, as much as I hate the phrase ordinarily. In fact this leads to an interesting speculation. People don’t understand what killed Grandview. My hypothesis—the attempt to cross these particular boundaries did not prove feasible. You can’t have it all. If that’s the lesson, it’s one ADM badly needs to learn.