Obsidian in public beta

Posted by satis
May 30, 2020 at 01:10 AM

Just downloaded the app. It seems quite fast but also very clumsy to navigate. It took me almost five minutes to import a Markdown file into the app: it requires the files to be inside the pre-established Obsidian document folder and won’t grab a file from anywhere else.

A lot of small additional complaints but I realize it’s still an early beta. For what it is it looks pretty interesting though. They say they hope to offer a Typora-like WYSIWYG experience eventually, which is my favorite way to use and view Markdown.

Ordinarily I’d pay $25 for the app to help it along, but I don’t know how much I’d use the app, especially now (or this year). And the yearly charges for e2ee and publishing (not yet available) seem a bit high, even if one does jump in on the early-bird pricing.

Between changes and coming or proposed changes to Obsidian, TiddlyWiki (with add-ons), Joplin, the org-roam project, and Trilium Notes it looks like Roam Reseach’s main Good Idea is being coöpted pretty quickly. I see on Twitter that Roam’s ceo is floating a potential 5-year discount price (still pricey at $500) to gauge interest.