Beta of TheBrain 7.0 released

Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Oct 3, 2011 at 04:29 PM

I first used and registered PersonalBrain 10 years ago; at the time, the space-like interface and ability to link anything to anything seemed like the panacea to my info management needs. Yet after version 3, I found I was using it very little, mostly just to consult my older (substantial) databases.

I skipped a version and upgraded again to version 5, when the program’s porting to Java made it possible to also run on Linux. The other important novelty at the time was the ability to create web versions of its databases, including the sci-fi interface. However, early users will remember that that ability already existed in version 1, but was later removed in order to keep it only in the much pricier enterprise version.

I was also baffled in recent versions to find an “outline view”—in essence a repositioning of items to resemble a 2-D outline—as well as the marketing of Personal Brain as mind mapping software. Now looking at version 7—I have again missed the version in between—I see characteristics that bring it closer to content mapping.

All in all, I have the feeling that the novelty has faded out, and Personal Brain’s positioning is not clear at all, even to its own developers. Unless I am missing something, there is little innovation within this 10 years. In the mean time, we have seen substantial strides from programs that have a much shorter history.

That said, if one’s data is well suited for organising via the Brain (mine isn’t), and one enjoys the interface, then the program should remain at least as useful as it was 10 years ago…