An in-depth TheBrain app-praisal !

Posted by Dr Andus
Jul 6, 2014 at 12:42 PM

Interesting review! In terms of categorising TheBrain, it sounds to me like it’s more of a graphical type of a desktop wiki, than a mind mapping software.

I find “mind mapping” a rather unhelpful category because it seems to be applied to two entirely different uses (which creates confusion).

Apps like Freeplane etc. effectively provide just another type of hierarchical outlining, and are more suited for working on individual documents, rather than serving as some sort of a database for everything that’s in one’s mind (even if that was possible). This category probably never should have been called “mind maps.” They are more like “thought maps”, in the sense that they pertain to single documents or other defined projects.

TheBrain might be more deserving of the “mind mapper” label, as it seems better suited for serving as a single database for all ideas and documents. However, since this label was hijacked by the previous category, it just creates confusion.

Given that TheBrain’s strengths seem to be in linking disparate info and then enabling their easy navigation and search, it sounds to me very much like a desktop wiki.