Re: Should Brainstorm be part of a multi-faceted outliner

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

Outliners.com Message ID: 4399

Posted by 100341.2151
2005-10-25 13:02:58

Stephen:

Yes, I think that both hoisting and an active aerial view of the total outline should be combined into outlining aoftware. Indeed, this was always the case with high-end DOS outlining software (e.g., Grandview, Maxthink/DOS). Although a case could be made for distinguishing the “hoisting” phase of outlining from later ones, I think this is probably an artifical one that arises as much from the inadequacies of existing software as from more theoretical considerations.

Maxthink for Windows seems to be more-or-less a porting over of the DOS program, which included hoisting and an active aerial view. It’s a pity it’s so sluggish, expensive, quirky and unstable, because it probably (in theory) comes closest in Windows to what the DOS programs achieved. I remember its designer as once remarking that he couldn’t see the point of developing a Windows version of Maxthink. Indeed, if WIN98 and XP had developed more flexible “DOS boxes” for running DOS programs there would probably have been no need to try.

As for the brainstorming abilities of these original DOS programs, as well as hoisting, in some cases they implemented “throwing” and categorizing. Current Windows programs have a long way to go before they catch up. It is a pity that neither Maxthink/DOS nor Grandview are freely available for download so that current developers could see what the competition is really like.

Derek

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