In theory, I aim for terse, evergreen notes that use the BLUF TLDR note taking style. They are currently synchronized to iCloud Drive to make interoperability with iOS easier, while still allowing the notes to be accessed across multiple devices. These are also interlinked with Wiki-style markup. My notes are stored in a directory of plaintext markdown files. Below, I'll describe these components in more detail. I have multiple tools do automatically scheduled cleanup tasks, auto-deploy a subset of my corpus to the web. I've built my own scripts to synchronize reading highlights from Instapaper. Additionally, I can quickly jot notes using a Siri shortcut from an iPhone.Īnother advantage is that as a programmer, I have full control to build solutions that work well for my needs. On mobile, even though Obsidian recently launched an iOS app, I prefer to continue using iA Writer. On desktop, I tend to the corpus using Obsidian. One advantage of this approach is that I can pick and choose which editors to use across multiple platforms.

Hackability: I can build my own tools to support specific needs.

Tool choice: I can choose my favorite among multiple existing tools.

Here's a visual summary of what's going on in my system for thought today: The solution I have arrived at is a cloud-synchronized directory of plaintext files and images. What I need instead is a System for Thought that supports many different tools working seamlessly together. At the same time, it's pretty clear to me that no single app can serve as my second brain. Unfortunately, most of these tools assume one corpus per tool, and the interoperability story is very poor.

Tools for Thought are all the rage these days.

Ia writer review 2021