(The)BrainDead? (Hopefully not yet)

Posted by Daly de Gagne
Oct 26, 2020 at 11:54 PM

Reading this thread a question which arises for me is whether the likes of Obsidian and RoamResearch in fact make TheBrain less relevant. Both allow linking and back linking (Obsidian recently introduced back linking). Also, Obsidian now allows linking blocks as well as headings. Both have visual representation of how links connect the information contained in these programs.

Obsidian is being developed by the Dynalist team, and for most individual, non-business users is free. Also, unlike RoamResearch, your information stays with you. At least two of the YouTube productivity pundits say RoamResearch is better suited for those people who are primarily interested in collecting information, while Obsidian is for those who want to gather information with a view to using it in the process of creating new writing. After years of my complaining about markdown, Obsidian (my preference) has convinced me of its value. The only drawback with Obsidian is that it’s only available on Windows, but in future will be available on Android and other platforms. I am dusting off my Windows laptop.

I should never predict the future, but…. I think Obsidian and RoamResearch (also Notion which I’m not crazy about) will make TheBrain and other outlining programs (with the possible exception of Dynalist) less relevant and viable in the marketplace.

Daly