Thread by @calhistorian

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie I suppose we should categorize the benefits more generally to be able to actual segment the analysis. Though I believe in many respects it is more about efficiency/augmentation of natural processes.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie And therefore we must also keep in mind that it is not about novelty of base concepts, but novelty of implementation.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie 1) Speed: UI/UX is built around speed, which attempts to remedy the natural, degenerative aspects of insight and memory.
2) UI: UI/UX provides just enough prompting to support serendipity and recall

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie 3) Connection: by providing connection *into* your thinking (block refs, embeds, linked refs, unlinked refs), Roam offers the opportunity to explore effortlessly through yours/others writing.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie 4) Traversal: Not only connection, but avenues *through* your thoughts, by being able to walk through prior understandings/thinking.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Now, the above implies little that is that new, as the many have suggested. The technology has been around in many respects for a long time. But it is about implementation (which is not exactly easy).

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie But if I may speak for myself, everything above is about efficiency and contextualization. Knowledge work, or creativity more broadly, does not come from software, but practice and praxis.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Roam allows me some *tools* to enhance the former and the latter in the ways I described above. Now, could this be done outside of Roam. Sure.. but how efficient would it be?

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Augmenting contextualization: Roam offers an opportunity to contextualize my thinking through its feature set (linked and unlinked refs, side-bar, block refs, embeds, etc) Instead of walking through a “forest of footnotes” as the analogy goes..

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie I am walking through, at least, a much more accurate representation of the forest (see my prior analogies on mental and spiritual geography). Now the forest may be of my own cultivation, or one of others, or in the future, both.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Augmenting efficiency: Roam takes a set of frameworks and UI/UX ideals/ideas/concepts and offers them in a very efficient way. A few character here, a few characters there, and I can exploit almost any aspect of the software.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie And when you fight against the entropy of your thoughts and ideas, this kind of efficiency is important. Particularly if you have a brain like mine 😁 - the half-life is short.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Then there is a whole other set of considerations in regards to writing as a product. But that could be for another day.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Side Note:
The user interface may be unseemly. But will you make the same argument against excel?

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie Side note:
We might also say that it is a solution to the destructive elements of files/folder mechanics engrained in all of us since the 1980s (well many of us I guess 😁)

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie So in these ways I might say that I can’t prove I have been more productive. i don’t even know if that is possible.
But I have definitely increased my producitivty lately.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie There may be a lot of truth here. But while the notetaking space might contain significant amount of “simple“ tools, other spaces are probably better analogies.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie @Conaw s analogy of excel is appropriate here. But the same analogy could be made across any number of different pieces of software. How people use a piece of software is quite different from the opportunities and affordances it potentially can offer.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie @Conaw There is in fact a significant amount of hyperbole in this space. My retort tends to be if you can’t tell the difference between roam and notion, one of two things are likely our issue. You don’t understand the power of an notion, or you don’t understand the power of Roam.

@codexeditor @OGreenius @joepairman @RoamResearch @Jeanvaljean689 @CatoMinor3 @kcorazo @RobertHaisfield @TomLisankie @Conaw Perhaps even that his hyperbole, but to your point and mine, it’s about what the user does and what the software can Offer