Hi, all,

I just learned about another new app, Kortex. This one purports to be like Notion for writers. It seems to have some unique features (there's a solid video about the app on the website), but I have begun to lose my ability to determine if I'm looking at something truly useful, or just the same old thing re-packaged. Wondering if anyone here has been trying Kortex out.

https://www.kortex.co

Steve

It's new and the devs admit their code is basic and raw. Their marketing is a little off, saying things like light mode is an upcoming feature "for psychopaths".

The pullquotes they use are from seemingly sketchy "thought leaders" who write blog posts for pay. (Product blurbs too?) The first pullquote they use is from a guy who specializes in 'content marketing' for companies and writes things like, "I used to think all online money was a SCAM!... Congrats, if you follow this guide for 6–12 months, you’ll be free. ✧ You’ll make well over $10,000 per month ✧ Have the freedom to travel the world"

https://medium.com/@TaylinSimmonds/how-i-made-my-first-200-000-writing-online-19ff822a0c7f

Another blurb is from "unconventional blogger" with a "keen insterest in blockchain" Tim Denning, who has Medium and Substack subscriptions all about HIGH PERFORMING ENTREPENEURSHIP

Be wary. It's only weeks old and the devs admit their code is basic and raw. Their marketing is a little weird, saying things like light mode is an upcoming feature "for psychopaths".

I'm not the slightest bit interested. The CEO Dan Koe;s main business is offering wealth-building "Kortex University" courses for aspiring creators to build their brand and create a moneymaking 'content ecosystem'. This software seems to be an offshoot of courses on marketing/sale for bloggers to build online followings. More on this course here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/comments/18rvrb1/any_opinion_on_dan_koe_kortex/

Before he started Kortex he was plumping for his 'Modern Mastery HQ business community' (which has since been scrubbed from his site https://thedankoe.com/ ). He also does affiliate marketing, and was licensing access to video animators for Tiktok creators. His content creation business involved writing tweets he'd repurpose to Instagram and LinkedIn, then write blog posts he'd send out as newsletters, then replicate them as podcasts and YouTube videos. Things he's sold recently:

- Digital art created with Photoshop

- Web design & WordPress services

- Dropshipping

- Minimalist wallets

- Blue light glasses

- Productized websites

- Funnels for service-based businesses

- Web design course

- Freelancing course

- Power planner

- Modern Mastery HQ (MMHQ, $29/month)

- 2-Hour Writer ($150)

- Digital Economics ($499-$8,000)

The pullquotes used for the Kortex app are from seemingly sketchy "thought leaders" who write blog posts for pay. (Product blurbs too?)

One blurb is from "unconventional blogger" with a "keen insterest in blockchain" Tim Denning, whose Medium and Substack subscriptions are about HIGH PERFORMING ENTREPENEURSHIP on a "path to cash" via an "online writing journey". In his personal description on Medium he writes, "I've worked with the top 1% of writers like Dan Koe...."

Unsurprisingly, on Denning's badasseryacademy.com website he in turn has posted a pullquote from Kortex's Dan Koe, and Denning has appeared on Koe's YouTube/podcast.

Reminds me of the old SPY column 'Logrolling In Our Time.'

The first pullquote the app's site uses is from Taylin Simmonds, who specializes in 'content marketing' for companies and writes things like on his Medium page like, "I used to think all online money was a SCAM!... Congrats, if you follow this guide for 6–12 months, you’ll be free. ✧ You’ll make well over $10,000 per month ✧ Have the freedom to travel the world"

Thanks for the heads up about this.

Darn! I just signed up. Hopefully, I won't receive a bunch of marketing emails. The video describing the functions of Kortex is what got me. The "capture" feature appears useful and a powerful version of Scrivener's scratchpad. I learned about the beta version of the new form of Scrivener when all the beta spaces were taken. I hope that the new version of Scrivener outshines much of what is on the market for academic, long-form writing.

Darren McDonald wrote:

I hope that the new
version of Scrivener outshines much of what is on the market for
academic, long-form writing.

Have you ever tried Lattics? Much better than Scrivener for academic long-form; even more so if you use Zotero.

Thanks for reminding of Lattics, Dormouse. I tried out Lattics when I was first released. I liked the concept, but the app was only in its infancy. I use Zotero daily, so the news about its integration with Zotero has me taking another look. Is there any news about an iOS/Android version? I find that I am doing more and more on tablets as well lately.

No news on iOS. I trust it will come, but development generally isn't as fast as some apps (though faster than Scrivener).

And there are missing mini-features. And frictions where it works differently to the way I find natural, which requires a little mental shifting. There are many reasons why someone might prefer not to use it. But after a long period of testing, I gradually moved nearly everything in: the advantages outweighed the disadvantages and more frequent use reduced the frictions. There isn't an alternative that offers the same features.

I don't use Zotero, so I haven't tested it's integration but it seems reasonably comprehensive: they've certainly put a lot of effort into making it functional and responding to requests. The possibility of switching to it hovers distantly at the back of my mind.

Thanks for your take, Dormouse. From other topic posts in this forum, it seems that many other well-known apps are making it easier to work with long-form writing. Each app has its own philosophy for writing. This shows up in the features and layout. I am sure this momentum will continue. My additional request/need is to have integration between research-based apps, like Zotero, or a way to store research source material.

PS. Almost daily, I am getting marketing emails from Kortex for courses I am not interested in. This is a major turnoff for me as I signed up to use an app, not a writing/marketing course. Very mixed messages. :(

Dormouse wrote:

No news on iOS. I trust it will come, but development generally isn't as
fast as some apps (though faster than Scrivener).

And there are missing mini-features. And frictions where it works
differently to the way I find natural, which requires a little mental
shifting. There are many reasons why someone might prefer not to use it.
But after a long period of testing, I gradually moved nearly everything
in: the advantages outweighed the disadvantages and more frequent use
reduced the frictions. There isn't an alternative that offers the same
features.

I don't use Zotero, so I haven't tested it's integration but it seems
reasonably comprehensive: they've certainly put a lot of effort into
making it functional and responding to requests. The possibility of
switching to it hovers distantly at the back of my mind.

Darren McDonald wrote:

10/14

Darn! I just signed up. Hopefully, I won't receive a bunch of
marketing emails.

10/26

Almost daily, I am getting marketing emails from Kortex for
courses I am not interested in. This is a major turnoff for me
as I signed up to use an app, not a writing/marketing course.
Very mixed messages. :(

There is a well of cross-promotional hucksterism in the online course marketing game -- be it writing, flipping real estate, or dating courses/"institutes". Once they have your details you tend to get inundated with offers and promos and special deals, and once you pay for something you tend to discover that to get actually useful information you need to pay for another course or level of service. (See below.)

What's appears to have happened here is that a marketer of a variety of courses and services has now delved into selling a product, but can't stop from cross-marketing his other courses.

The thing to watch out for is if the company feels its squeezed as much as it can from you (even if it's nothing) your email address becomes a commodity to sell or trade to fellow marketers.

FYI, as for the app itself I found this recent review from a self-published romance author who gave the app a "disappointing" review and says "it’s failed at what it says it is meant to do unless you subscribe and pay for another service."

https://meredithbond.com/kortex-a-review/