Export=>Import=>Export=>... from PIM to PIM to ...

Posted by Cassius
Feb 14, 2007 at 07:07 PM

In the ‘Ountline Filk “Missing in Action”’ thread, Graham Rhind said, “... I decided I had better things to do in my life than move my data from one program to another as developers lost interest and something different turned up. So I’m sticking with just a few programs which satisfy 90% of my needs at the present time - Whizfolders, Evernote and Flashpaste.

“But I do check out all the new versions which other readers post about! So, don’t stop posting! Perhaps soon I’ll be moving my data to yet another set of programs ... :-( “

I agree! With few exceptions, wholesale moving of data is an insane waste of time. There are a few “almost exceptions”: Inspiration does a pretty good job of moving data to and from RTF, but it is so clunky to use. NoteMap is supposed to export to RTF but that is imperfect and I doubt the latest update fixed the problem. GrandView, which has been extolled for many other features, has/had a wide range of import and export options, but alas it is DOS and MS has decided to penalize DOS programs by making them difficult to use in the Windows environment.

For a time, one could search across different PIMs/file structures using a general search engine, but now many PIMs compress their data files, pretty much killing cross-PIM searches.

So, it seems that one has, perhaps, four choices:

1. Stay with software that has a long-term future, that is, it can be expected to have future updates to keep it current with new versions of the OS and printers.

2. Stay with software that may not ever be upgraded and run it as long as possible—like some people are doing with GV.

3. Same as 2, but stay with the OS that the software runs well on and hope you can find printer drivers compatible with the software, your printer, and your hardware.

4. Give up and stick with the “standards” such as MS Office, Open Office, etc. Macros may be able to enhance the “standards” to add needed capabilities.

-c