Is it worth it?

Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Sep 9, 2007 at 09:03 PM

I’m less convinced that I have convinced myself than you are. Maybe you’re right. We’ll see.

At least two major decisions remain.

1. Is there an alternative product that is likely to be _more_ suitable in the near future? (What’s the near future? One year?)

2. Are there currently less expensive products that have the crucial features? (True hoist; one click entry logic; true multiple selection; general transparency of operation.) And if so, are the non-essential features worth the extra price?

The first question is of course the inherently more interesting one. The graphical outlining product that works like I really think one should (that is, in BrainStorm automatic hoist fashion) is currently under-powered (e.g., no multiple selection) but under rapid development. Somehow, however, I don’t think it will be ready then, if ever, for general mind mapping purposes.

The actual presently competing temptation is an application that costs $90 less than MindGenius, MindMapper 5. It has the features two paragraphs above, and some MindGenius lacks, due to a definite orientation to task/project management. It lacks MindGenius’s Map Explorer, with its inherently nestable hoists. It also lacks the sytem of categories, which I speculate will (somehow) prove useful.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>Stephen,
> >It sounds as if you have convinced yourself to invest the money in getting a
>license for MindGenius… Sounds like the wise thing to do since you rely heavily on
>mind mappers. Like others, I don’t find mind mappers very useful… they quickly get
>too big and hard for me to absorb. But then, the same is true for me with outlines—at
>least as they are used as organizational structures for PIMs. I do think that mind
>mappers can be useful in conveying information to others.
>
>I have always thought
>that B-Liner was an interesting concept. It allows you to shift your map into
>different views, including one that mimics at traditional outline format. I wish the
>company were still developing B-Liner, because I think it had a lot of
>potential.
> >Steve Z.