ConnectedText versus Ndxcards

Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Oct 19, 2007 at 05:50 PM

Daly de Gagne wrote:
>Manfred, I really enjoyed your article on the CT site about note-taking.

I hadn’t seen the article. I’m going to read it this weekend. But regarding the below, Daley asks a good question. Indeed, why not. Actually, it occurs to me that software already exists that makes some of these conventions less onerous. There are programs that specialize in the function MS Word calls “auto-correct.” You can pick your own keystrokes that trigger typing a different set. You might type ‘cnct’ and have it insert the connection symbol. Or in something like ActiveWords you could actually just type ‘connect’ after typing the trigger and have it insert the connection symbol instead of what you actually typed.

Is there any reason this wouldn’t work? If not, then why would CT delay incorporating this sort of functionality. (Probably CT users have a much better memory than I, making this aid irrelevant.)
> >I guess I am
>just not able to get my head around the whole wiki notion—part of me rebels, first of
>all at having to remember conventions, as Stephen spoke about. Why can there not be
>programming that gives you bold or italic or title at the press of a button. That’s one
>objection based on doing less than to me seems reasonably possible.
> >But then I guess
>I lack the imagination to think of how I would start linking stuff up, and whether I
>would be consistent.
> >I know I am missing something here, and I have that feeling
>everytime I download CT or another wiki for a trial.
> >Daly
> >Manfred wrote:
>>I am not
>sure whether you saw this. Nor am I sure how helpful it will
> >>be:
>>
>>http://www.connectedtext.com/manfred.html
>>
>>I agree that there is a
> >>learning curve, and that the conventions of a wiki take getting used to ...
>>
>>I am
> >>convinced that the usefulness of a Note-taking applications, no matter which one
>you
>>choose, increases exponentially in relation to the time and effort you put into
>it. I
>>know this must appear (and is) paradoxical, for you must commit before you
>really
>>know. And after you have committed, you will never really know whether
>another one
>>might have been better. Reminds me of marriage that way ;)
>>
>>On Index
>Cards: I tried it,
>>but it appears to me that it does not translate the index card
>method into an electronic
>>equivalent and is too much of a copy of the paper-based
>model, but that is my very
>>subjective view. (I also did not find it “intuitive” -
>again, a very subjective
>>reaction that has to do with my prior experience.