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Software that's enjoyable ... software that's a drudgery
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Posted by steveylang
Feb 27, 2015 at 08:46 PM
One other app that I really enjoy using (when I am at my work PC)- WriteMonkey. Such a simple program really, and yet I really wish there was a Mac port.
I sync text files via Dropbox, and use Ulysses on my Mac. Ulysses is a really nice app, but I’d probably be using WriteMonkey instead if it was available.
Posted by jaslar
Feb 28, 2015 at 02:58 AM
NEW software that I have found fun to use:
- Mindscope. So cool to drag around text in a way that is NOT constrained to mind map rules, with “nesting” to give it added oomph.
- Moo.do. Many of the joys of Workflowy, but with a boost of calendar and contact hooks.
Both of these gave me that frisson of being immediately useful, of solving a problem I hadn’t realized I had.
Posted by Paul Korm
Feb 28, 2015 at 04:32 PM
I couldn’t agree more. I enjoy my notebooks, my pens and pencils. I enjoy notetaking on paper more than anywhere else. As much as I enjoy CRIMPing and the software I’ve recommended in this thread and elsewhere, I believe that much of what I evaluate about working with this or that software is how close it comes to the same mental experience of writing in a notebook.
Ken wrote
>Sometimes a piece of paper is my best friend, as it does not share its function with anything else, nor does stuff find its way onto the paper without my writing it.
Posted by Hugh
Mar 1, 2015 at 11:41 AM
Paul Korm wrote:
I couldn’t agree more. I enjoy my notebooks, my pens and pencils. I
>enjoy notetaking on paper more than anywhere else. As much as I enjoy
>CRIMPing and the software I’ve recommended in this thread and elsewhere,
>I believe that much of what I evaluate about working with this or that
>software is how close it comes to the same mental experience of writing
>in a notebook.
>
>Ken wrote
>>Sometimes a piece of paper is my best friend, as it does not share its
>function with anything else, nor does stuff find its way onto the paper
>without my writing it.
I agree. Before word processors, before even personal computers, I made my living writing or re-writing thousands of words a week, and I used well-sharpened pencils, A4 pads - and the third essential tool (apart from a constant supply of coffee) rubbers (sorry, erasers) on the ends of the pencils (because nobody’s perfect). My requirements of software now are similar to those I required of that kit then: that it does what it purports to be able to do, and its “user interface” is clear.
However, I have to say that with rare exceptions I gain greater satisfaction from ends rather than means. I can put up with quite a few minor failings and imperfections in the tools I use, as long as the objectives towards which I’m working promise to bring me enjoyment.
Posted by gunars
Mar 1, 2015 at 04:36 PM
Paul Korm wrote:
I couldn’t agree more. I enjoy my notebooks, my pens and pencils. I
>enjoy notetaking on paper more than anywhere else.
Well, when you get tired of CRIMPing, you can look into its analogue in the ink and paper world. A good starting place is http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum. I know quite a few tech oriented people who enjoy writing with fountain pens.