[briandarvell]

I don't see what's so great about such a program other than it's a "shinier" version of the basic folder layout in any modern OS. I mean, you can do all the same stuff using files and folders from your C:\ and add shortcuts between them if you need to and it can be made instantly searchable and indexed without being locked into one program file. I'll admit you cannot easily make things look as nice and colorful as PB seems to do but if you're really that interested about learning and keeping notes, this just seems to be another of the countless procrastination-forming pseudo-notetaking programs which already exist. Furthermore, the amount of time it would take for me to reform my current notes and files into this program would be a huge kill to other things which I could already be doing. I'm curious to hear responses to this.

[zzzmarcus]

It's not for everyone. Watch the video in the blog post I linked to, or download it and give it a try if you like. Or don't. It may just be that it's not your thing.

Personally, I've found it to be anything but a "procrastination-forming pseudo-notetaking program."

[briandarvell]

I have tried both PB and Freemind and I still have trouble grasping the use.

I say Procrastination-forming because in my experience with these kind of tools you end up spending more time formatting and aesthetic-izing your stuff than actually doing notetaking. Look at the demo video on the main homepage and one thing they emphasize is on putting small icons beside the bubbles and having neat background colors.

I say Pseudo-notetaking becuase this tool is actually more geared towards structure than creation. Your video for instance doesn't show anything related to my idea of notetaking. Notetaking means you are writing down quotations or details upon ideas that you're listening or reading about because you wish to remember them or study later. Notetaking, in my mind, is not limited to linking Ayn Rand as an author and 1902 as a birth year. There's no depth to anything.

In the end if you say it works for you then go for it. But I'm just saying that if it's really notetaking you're interested in then I really don't think this is the program to use.

[zzzmarcus]

If try PB for more than moment or two, you'll see that one of the main features is that every node allows notes. Selecting a node displays a note field with full formatting and unlimited length. Nodes can also have attachments that can be any type of document.

Aesthetics are a factor, but the icons, for example, are generated automatically by favicons when you link to a webpage. No procrastination involved!