Re: Is InfoHandler an outliner (was Re: An Addi....)

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 2495

Posted by zeoli
2005-01-09 17:41:59

I might be getting carried away with the following metaphore, but maybe it will help clarify my position re outliners for outlining and outliners for information management:

Think of the outliner for outlining as a sports car, and think of the outliner for information management as a pickup truck. Both have wheels, a drive train, steering wheel, transmission, engine, chasis, doors, seats… They are perhaps 95 percent identical. But when buying your vehicle, if you don’t identify your major need (commuting vs. hauling), you will probably be pretty unhappy when you try to plow driveways with your new Porche. But if you could get a pickup truck that handled like a sports car… and, heck, throw in the economy of a hybrid… you’d say you’d found the Holy Grail of vehicles.

Do I want the Holy Grail of information managers? Absolutely. But until it comes along, I need to understand the limitations of the programs I do use and use them appropriately. (Okay, no one here needs that lesson.) And when I evaluate new programs, I have to keep this in mind as well. It is why I don’t necessarily think outlining is crucial for information management, if the developer has created a better way to classify and view the data. It’s the same reason I wouldn’t expect dualies on my sports car.

Steve Z.

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