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MyInfo Is My Choice
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Posted by Daly de Gagne
Jan 23, 2025 at 05:11 PM
After years of looking at, reflecting upon, and wondering if the new generation of note apps, including Capacities, Amplenote, Logseq, etc. can help me manage my information/knowledge etc. I made a choice.
I decided that, for me at least, none of them are what my ADHD-challenged brain needs. My serious learning involves paper, fountain pens, and an analog Zettlekasten with help from Zotero.
For everything else, including some of the above, I am using MyInfo. For me, MyInfo allows me to do virtually all of what attracted me to the shiny new apps with, IMHO, more flexibility.
My decision was made when I spent time recently looking at how I used MyInfo in previous years. I was not all that organized, but realized I had captured a good amount of information, and actually used some of it to foster new thought and ideas. The ability to use columns in MyInfo allowed for some useful metadata related to reading, projects, etc.
The other contender was Dynalist, which I used a lot even after its developer abandoned loyal users by halting development, and putting all resources behind Obsidian. My main outliner/information manager going forward is MyInfo.
FWIW, that’s where I am at.
Frankly, I am surprised that most of the main app influencers on YouTube, and elsewhere, have generally ignored MyInfo and the essential urility of software based on the traditional outline paradigm and allowed to evolve from there.
Daly
Posted by Christoph
Jan 23, 2025 at 06:40 PM
Many ADHSers are using Obsidian. See for example the YouTube videos from Bryan Jenkins.
MyInfo isn’t terrible, but it does feel somewhat outdated. It’s a desktop application with a proprietary format that only works on Windows and doesn’t sync with mobile devices. Additionally, it’s a bit expensive, unlike free alternatives such as Obsidian. These factors make it less appealing to many users.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 24, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Daly,
This gives me hope for longevity of apps, and I’m not surprised that some of the tried and true solutions turn out to be better for some people. Heck, there are a couple of DOS apps I wish I could still use without jumping through hoops.
Steve
Daly de Gagne wrote:
After years of looking at, reflecting upon, and wondering if the new
>generation of note apps, including Capacities, Amplenote, Logseq, etc.
>can help me manage my information/knowledge etc. I made a choice.
>
>I decided that, for me at least, none of them are what my
>ADHD-challenged brain needs. My serious learning involves paper,
>fountain pens, and an analog Zettlekasten with help from Zotero.
>
>For everything else, including some of the above, I am using MyInfo. For
>me, MyInfo allows me to do virtually all of what attracted me to the
>shiny new apps with, IMHO, more flexibility.
>
>My decision was made when I spent time recently looking at how I used
>MyInfo in previous years. I was not all that organized, but realized I
>had captured a good amount of information, and actually used some of it
>to foster new thought and ideas. The ability to use columns in MyInfo
>allowed for some useful metadata related to reading, projects, etc.
>
>The other contender was Dynalist, which I used a lot even after its
>developer abandoned loyal users by halting development, and putting all
>resources behind Obsidian. My main outliner/information manager going
>forward is MyInfo.
>
>FWIW, that’s where I am at.
>
>Frankly, I am surprised that most of the main app influencers on
>YouTube, and elsewhere, have generally ignored MyInfo and the essential
>urility of software based on the traditional outline paradigm and
>allowed to evolve from there.
>
>Daly
Posted by Graham Rhind
Jan 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I’m with you on this, Daly.
A great many of the new shiny online apps seem to be trying to do the same thing but in a slightly different, unnecessarily complicated, way. They also try to be different by making up a whole new set of vocabulary, but many seemed to have been designed from a technical viewpoint with little thought being given to (mainly non-technical) end-users. They’re clean and modern but leave the user facing a blank screen with little help or hope about where to go next - learning curves seem to be getting longer rather than shorter.
I need programs which do what I need to have done, and that’s it. ConnectedText finally gave up working on my hardware last week, and somebody suggested moving the data to Obsidian, but it took me ages just to work out how to import data - I don’t have the personal bandwidth to want to fiddle around like that any more. RightNote was right there and did the job perfectly with little fuss.
I don’t use MyInfo much mainly because its “Perspectives” are limited and badly laid out - a little tweaking could allow these to be the equivalent of Zoot’s SmartFolders or UltraRecall’s saved searches. I would like to be able to concentrate on a single program, but my data remains spread mainly amongst OneNote, RightNote, UltraRecall and Zoot. The new kids on the block haven’t been able to woo me away from them as yet ...
Graham
Posted by Daly de Gagne
Jan 24, 2025 at 02:46 PM
Hi Christoph -
I am familiar with, and appreciate, Bryan Jenkins’s videos and his disclosure of having ADHD. I am also aware that people with ADHD have found various apps to their liking.
However, people with ADHD are not all the same in their preferences and cannot be lumped together. Our respective challenges differ in how they present themselves, and how we respond to/cope with/deal with them. What works for Bryan may not work for me, or what works for me may not work for him. Indeed, for some of us (myself included) what seems to work one day may not work the next.
My decision to return to MyInfo was based in large part at looking at how I used the program a decade or more ago, and realizing how well it worked for me. As well, Petko, the developer, has continued to update MyInfo in terms of features, appearances, and capability. Yes, it looks similiar in ways to many years ago, but it has also taken on a more contemporary look along with continuing developmment of capabilities which keeps it current.
As for cost - yes, Obsidian is free. MyInfo is not free, but it is less expensive than some of the newer apps. It was $49 to upgrade to the current version.
As for use value - when I began reviewing my work on MyInfo from years ago I saw it accomodated essentially all my information needs in one place, and how I used it then has stood the test of time. MyInfo is more than the basic outliner app of which, years back, there were many - some of them very good, and most of them gone, with a few exceptions.
One feature of MyInfo I have always appreciated, and made good use of, is the column feature which can accomodate various metadata.
Daly
Christoph wrote:
Many ADHSers are using Obsidian. See for example the YouTube videos from
>Bryan Jenkins.
>
>MyInfo isn’t terrible, but it does feel somewhat outdated. It’s a
>desktop application with a proprietary format that only works on Windows
>and doesn’t sync with mobile devices. Additionally, it’s a bit
>expensive, unlike free alternatives such as Obsidian. These factors make
>it less appealing to many users.