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Old 01-15-2005, 08:30 PM
PureMoxie PureMoxie is online now
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Join Date: 11-21-2004
Posts: 78
I guess I was thinking of the web as a point of comparison. While the web could certainly work if browsers simply showed a list of related/child pages in a separate pane, I think that would be less useful than the way it currently works; i.e., hyperlinks within the content.

I'm still not convinced that it has to be an either/or proposition. Granted, functionality should not become so fractured as to compete against itself, which is what I am understanding your objection to be.

Perhaps it is counter-productive to mix metaphors, but I always imagined the ideal information manager would allow multiple "overlays" on top of a common data store. For instance, viewing data as a chronology, a hierarchy, a network (web), a list, etc. as shifting needs dictate.

I confess I am less interested in strict representations or structures of information than I am in immediate context-sensitive usefulness. Strict schemas do not seem to work that well for shifting, ephemeral data like ideas, brainstorming, etc. For tasks, technical knowledgebases, etc., more rigid structure is of greater benefit. I guess I'd like to meet both needs at once.

Quote:
Originally posted by srdiamond
I'm more persuaded by the ease of creation reason than the granularity one, because the representation of more granular information is one of the standard uses of child items. And I wonder how much hyperlinks can do to tame the complexity of a tree when the main complaint against programs based on hyperlinks is that they become chaotic when the linkages become numerous. Its true--actually a result of some work in network theory--that a combination of ad hoc linkages with hierarchy can greatly reduce complexity, but it isn't clear that this purpose is better served when the linkages take the form of hyperlinks as opposed to logical links.
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