Where are the exciting developments?

Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 21, 2009 at 08:42 PM

Okay, is it just my misperception or is the field of PIM/Outliners gradually shrinking?

It seems that many of the programs that we used to talk about with great enthusiasm—UltraRecall, InfoHandler—are going the way of ADM and Ariadne. Basically shrivelling on the vine. There seems little new and exciting in the field during the past year. Of course, I am awaiting the delivery—promised for this month—of Zoot with text formatting. That would be EXCITING. Brainstorm development seems to have stalled, and David is working on selling it.

Software development has always been volatile, and developers fickle, as those of us who loved GrandView and Ecco can attest. So it isn’t surprising to see software come and go. But I guess I don’t see so much new stuff coming along.

In the Mac world, things are a little brighter, but there are fewer choices to begin with. Applications like Curio and Notebook are exciting and remain fresh. But even here you get a program like Journler—which built up an enthusiastic following and now seems destined for the scrap heap.

I suppose the world wide economic downturn isn’t helping matters. But all the more reason for an out-of-work programming wizard to devote more time to the ultimate PIM. Is it out there?

Steve Z.