Thread by @calhistorian

#roamcult Ok, I need to say it since pricing is being discussed. Anybody who compares @Roamresearch to a run-of-the-mill note-taking app doesn’t need Roam anyway. OR think deeply about your workflow and identify how you are utilizing your digital tools for thinking... (1/*)

Maybe you in fact could use an upgrade to your digital workflow. The tool often does not make the person, but sometimes a tool is so efficient that nothing can really compare at speed, flexibility, and productivity. Let’s take a very simple analogy as an example... (2/*)

Goal: fasten two items together with a screw
Problem: How?
Strategy: Hand-held screwdriver.
Outcome: ✅, but slow and can’t do too many in quick succession due to hand fatigue.

Now lets compare!
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Goal: same (fasten two items together with a screw)
Problem: same
Strategy: Electric drill.
Outcome: ✅, quick and efficient.
Outcome 2: “I still have time, what do I do now?”

Reflect and Review!
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Both tools got the job done. Both tools could be used for a variety of different contexts/complexities in the stated medium — both can do simple tasks, both can do complex tasks. HOWEVER, if all you need to do is to occasionally fasten items together, without deadlines...
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...without complex demands. If all you need is a handheld screwdriver, don’t buy an expensive drill. But if what you do requires an electric drill, if the frequency/quantity of your productivity demands more efficiency, or potentially...
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...if you want to screw into CONCRETE - you better have a different tool than a hand-held screwdriver! So the moral is simple. Don’t get what you don’t need, until you need it. OR, more appropriately...
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If you just need to jot down a couple, dozen, even hundreds of notes to keep track of isolated instances/ideas/concepts, you don’t need @RoamResearch. It WORKS, but do you NEED it? Probably not. If @evernote works for you, great! If @NotionHQ works for you, great!
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If @BearNotesApp works for you, great. @devontech’s DEVONthink, nvAlt/@nvUltraApp, @Google Keep, etc, etc, etc, work for you, awesome! These are all GREAT applications. You CAN do great work in/with them. I have used most of them for some extended period of time...
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And I have been PRODUCTIVE. But I am FAR more productive/efficient at my work (academic) with this little tool with a unique MIX of features - @RoamResearch. Call me a FanBoy if you like, but damnit there is a reason I bought a @BMW I couldn’t really afford...
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It gets 50+ mpg, breaks down less, easy to work on myself (minus electronic/wiring), etc. I could have bought a @Ford. I would have been happy with it. I could have been productive with it. But damn, am I glad I made a strategic decision for efficiency/productivity.
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If you can support devs making cool tools, do it. If not, there are plenty of options with a different set of qualities that work 75% as well. I am old enough to remember 1-time-purchase software of questionable quality being $50-70 that would need upgrading 1-2yrs later.
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Many a wise person has stated that the best way to relieve frustration is to write it down and than 🔥 IT! Well I have sent my thoughts into the inferno of the Twitterverse awaiting the inevitable incineration it will receive by those who disagree! It feels great.
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