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Where are the exciting developments?
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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.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jan 21, 2009 at 09:02 PM
Before I catch hell from Pierre, let me qualify my previous posting—Where are all the exciting developments besides IQ?
Steve Z.
Posted by Gorski
Jan 21, 2009 at 10:17 PM
> Brainstorm development seems to have stalled, and David is working on selling it.
Sold
http://twitter.com/tebbo/status/1038561982
Posted by Chris Thompson
Jan 22, 2009 at 01:02 AM
The Mac environment is still going strong. OmniFocus 2.0 is in development, OmniOutliner 4.0 is (finally) in development. The Hit List was just released. Circus Ponies Notebook 3.0 was just released three months ago (seriously, that’s become one impressive application!). Curio gets frequent revisions.
Journler was always more shareware than a commercial product, and it had too many good competitors for the developer to keep going with it.
If you use a broader definition of PIMs, DevonThink 2.0 is (finally) in beta, Together is getting an update every month (and is already competitive with DevonThink), Things is selling well, etc.
In terms of open source stuff, “org-mode” is undergoing extremely rapid development (about one release every two weeks). This will reward anyone who takes the time to learn it.
I think there are a lot of reasons the Windows software market for small developers has been stagnating. Maybe Windows 7 will turn that around a little. InfoQube deserves a lot of credit for persevering.
—Chris
Posted by Ike Washington
Jan 22, 2009 at 01:46 AM
One in the world of Windows to watch is ConnectedText, I think - stable application, ambitious, dedicated developer, hardcore of tech savy users pushing him on to greater heights, a forum which is starting to take off. Pretty exciting.
Ike