Re: Obsolete and awkward software

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

Outliners.com Message ID: 4764

Posted by stephenz
2005-12-19 10:23:07

> I’ve never claimed for a second that Surfulater was designed to be used as an Outliner, or that it is fit for that purpose.

> Outliners.com members discuss various types of programs, of which Surfulater loosely fits in.

The current discussion re Surfulater recalls the age-old issue of just what we mean when we use the term “outliner.” I suggest that we are really discussing a spectrum of approaches that runs something like this:

Dedicated outlining programs such as NoteMap and Inspiration at one end. These are one-pane outliners that provide the most flexibility and facility in creating and organizing the items in its hierarchical tree. These programs help you to think through projects, structure writing and can serve as a replacement for your wordprocessor.

On the other end of the spectrum are information capture and storage applications such as Surfulater and UltraRecall, which make use of a tree structure for organizing information. The key features of these programs are the tools for capturing and retrieving information, with the tree-structure being just one of these tools, usually far less sophisticated than the outlining features of a dedicated outliner.

Of course, most programs fall somewhere in the middle. ADM, for instance, has fairly sophisticated outlining capabilities, but also manages information well. Brainstorm is most functional as a thought processor, but can be used with some effectiveness as an information manager. Programs like ActionOutline or Jot rely heavily on the tree-structure, provide fairly good editing capabilities and managable capture and retrieval.

One of the key factors in judging at which end of the spectrum an application falls is just how easy it is to manually enter and structure your own thoughts, notes and writing. NoteMap might get an A in this, Brainstorm and ADM a B (although for different reasons), UltraRecall a C.

Then there are the programs that forego the tree-structure altogether, opting for a different approach. Such programs include Notebox Disogranizer, Personal Knowbase and AskSam.

One program I know of, GrandView, managed to straddle the spectrum fairly effectively, providing nimble outlining, effective wordprocessing, and flexible and powerful information management in one package. I think it is the discussion about the search for the successor to GrandView (or whatever we each define as the Holy Grail of PIMs) and what it might look like that makes outliners.com one of the more lively and interesting forums on the net.

Steve Z.

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