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Curio 14 released
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Posted by Lothar Scholz
May 23, 2020 at 10:50 AM
For me Curio is like a child with OneNote and PowerPoint as parents.
It’s more a graphic program for generating presentations from notes then the note taking itself.
Just like OneNote my huge problems are that all graphic representations become very fast unproductive and too complex when you have lots of notes (and a lot is as small like 50).
Then you cant get around lists and searchs. The only help i get from curio is a better brainstorming during the initial creation. But after this all the lack of easy reorganization is hitting hard.
With mindmaps you have at least some auto layout algorithms that can help you rearrange the data when it becomes big, but then it loses all the benefit of nice and condensed presentation. Curio offers nothing to help you.
I think Tinderbox (which i do not own and never used beyond the 20 notes in the free version) is a bit better then Curio because you can use the outline mode as an equally supported view into your notes.
Posted by Amontillado
May 24, 2020 at 02:49 AM
For me, Tinderbox was too much like an IDE for information - but part of that impression is probably my fault for not understanding the Tinderbox way of doing things.
Regarding performance, the Curio welcome file is pretty big. I think there are close to 300 “idea spaces” in it.
But if it doesn’t serve your use, then it’s not a good tool.
Lothar Scholz wrote:
For me Curio is like a child with OneNote and PowerPoint as parents.
>
>It’s more a graphic program for generating presentations from notes then
>the note taking itself.
>
>Just like OneNote my huge problems are that all graphic representations
>become very fast unproductive and too complex when you have lots of
>notes (and a lot is as small like 50).
>Then you cant get around lists and searchs. The only help i get from
>curio is a better brainstorming during the initial creation. But after
>this all the lack of easy reorganization is hitting hard.
>
>With mindmaps you have at least some auto layout algorithms that can
>help you rearrange the data when it becomes big, but then it loses all
>the benefit of nice and condensed presentation. Curio offers nothing to
>help you.
>
>I think Tinderbox (which i do not own and never used beyond the 20 notes
>in the free version) is a bit better then Curio because you can use the
>outline mode as an equally supported view into your notes.
>
>
>
Posted by mprazoff
May 24, 2020 at 03:53 AM
I agree that the utility of Curio can be hard to grasp, possibly because it is not directly comparable to other programs. For a few years, I was doing a weekly Idea Space in Curio and daily diary updates in the now defunct Circus Ponies Notebook. After a few years, I went back to review both and was surprised to discover that they sounded like they were written by two completely different people. The text based outlines in CP Notebook captured my dominant hemisphere, while Curio captured creative, non-verbal parts of me. One captured what I did and what I had for supper, while Curio captured my hopes, beliefs and aspirations.
While Curio can be used as an outline-based, linear note taker, I agree that it is a bit cumbersome compared with programs designed expressly for that purpose. But it excels in other areas. I have used Curio to mock up logos and visual campaigns, and to find the best words to describe a business for use on a web-site. I have used it to take heavily visual notes on software use, where screenshots, arrows and callouts all help the final product. I most recently used it to create “mood boards” of various solutions for a home renovation project, with different idea spaces for flooring, lighting and so on. I generally do not find mind mapping useful because nodes can only contain a few words. In Curio I can create a few sentences and style them with a background and text box. Through use of clicking and modifier keys, similarly styled text boxes can be created using a variety of arrows and connectors. As I work out the flow of software use, I can place a software’s icon onto this kind of map - and Curio maintains a library of these often used images, while new ones can be found using the Sleuth function in Curio.
Perhaps the best description of Curio is that it is “thinking software.”
Posted by washere
May 24, 2020 at 04:59 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Ed_vCOKY4
Posted by Amontillado
May 24, 2020 at 11:54 AM
>Perhaps the best description of Curio is that it is “thinking
>software.”
That’s what I use it for.
The performance issues mentioned in this thread must have gotten fixed before I started using Curio, which was about six months ago. The Welcome to Curio database has at least 300 idea spaces, all of which are fairly “busy”. it doesn’t seem to show performance issues, at least to my eye.
If I had to choose between One Note and Curio, I would greatly prefer Curio—but I respect opinions counter to mine.