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Beta of TheBrain 7.0 released
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Posted by cpb
Oct 3, 2011 at 05:16 AM
Argh, the application itself requires a login, what relentless leg-humping.
Pity, it seemed promising.
-cpb
Posted by Dominik Holenstein
Oct 3, 2011 at 06:51 AM
You can sign-up here:
http://webbrain.com/
Click on “Sign up” on the top right.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Oct 3, 2011 at 02:01 PM
So, any thoughts yet? I’m just getting started with v.7. I’m not sure how significant these changes will prove for me. The link-note feature might be useful. I like the curved link lines and the way you can focus on a link by clicking on it, but none of these seems that big a deal. Perhaps I’ll come to appreciate them the more I use it.
Steve Z.
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…
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Oct 3, 2011 at 06:28 PM
@ Alexander,
I agree that the “gee whiz” factor of the plex wears off quickly. As a note manager, TheBrain is very weak. That is, it is no “outliner” (however it is we define that term here). What made TheBrain click for me is when I stopped trying to use it like an outliner, where each node (or “thought”) is a kernel of information. In reality, each thought in the plex is really more like a folder, which can be related in a number of flexible ways to all the other folders in your Brain. Each of these thoughts/folders can hold numerous attached files of any type, as well as various pieces of meta-data (tags, types, URLs, screen captures). So for me TheBrain has become an efficient repository for much of my work-oriented data, allowing me to relate that information among itself in ways impossible with the Windows Explorer. The search function is surprisingly robust, so it is easy to find information buried deep in the hierarchy. It’s not perfect. The note editor is very weak. It’s poor at displaying information that benefits from a tabular format. I wish I could scan documents directly into TheBrain.
But all in all, TheBrain has proven very handy for the way I deal with information.
Steve Z.