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I can see Obsidian being popular because it makes notetaking fun and customizable and may motivate people to do it more. But as far as actual productivity goes

I can see Obsidian being popular because it makes notetaking fun and customizable and may motivate people to do it more. But as far as actual productivity goes I can't see any benefit it adds.

scottbruin 4y ago
That’s kind of like saying an IDE has no clear productivity benefit when authoring software. It’s an IDE for note-taking.
- ThePhantom 4y ago
  When I think of productivity in this context, I am referring to the rate at which one can generate value. Software itself has value (eg, a client-facing web service). Therefore an IDE, which may require an investment to get past the learning curve, can have a productivity benefit as it can make generating software (and thus value) more efficient. Do notes themselves have value? I would argue not really. For the most part things like "life planners" / "task managers" I've noticed are highly intricate but require considerable upkeep to maintain. Time that can be used to actually generate value.
  - beaker52 4y ago
    Does the software itself have value? Isn’t it what people do with the software that really has value? The software sat on a floppy disk has pretty low value. I’d then argue that software has as much value as notes do. It’s about what you do with it/them, what it/they enable - that counts. But both software and notes are therefore extremely valuable to the activity of doing. My notes are my software, heck I even call my note system “LifeOS”, which makes that even more apparent.
  - timrichard 4y ago
    Incredibly valuable for me. When exploring something new, I journal as I go. If a side task has to be parked, I can pick up again months later because I use it as a knowledgebase. Also, a quick scan for #gotcha in my notes reminds me of subtle bugs and workarounds in tools and processes that are easily forgotten. I also create quick reference charts for tools I want to become familiar. I hashtag every new note as if I'm making a Twitter post, so things are linked in a useful way. I usually have Obsidian open near the IDE.
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
You've kinda addressed your own concern about productivity though - it's more fun.

I can see Obsidian being popular because it makes notetaking fun and customizable and may motivate people to do it more. But as far as actual productivity goes I can't see any benefit it adds.

scottbruin 4y ago

That’s kind of like saying an IDE has no clear productivity benefit when authoring software. It’s an IDE for note-taking.

ThePhantom 4y ago
When I think of productivity in this context, I am referring to the rate at which one can generate value. Software itself has value (eg, a client-facing web service). Therefore an IDE, which may require an investment to get past the learning curve, can have a productivity benefit as it can make generating software (and thus value) more efficient. Do notes themselves have value? I would argue not really. For the most part things like "life planners" / "task managers" I've noticed are highly intricate but require considerable upkeep to maintain. Time that can be used to actually generate value.
- beaker52 4y ago
  Does the software itself have value? Isn’t it what people do with the software that really has value? The software sat on a floppy disk has pretty low value. I’d then argue that software has as much value as notes do. It’s about what you do with it/them, what it/they enable - that counts. But both software and notes are therefore extremely valuable to the activity of doing. My notes are my software, heck I even call my note system “LifeOS”, which makes that even more apparent.
- timrichard 4y ago
  Incredibly valuable for me. When exploring something new, I journal as I go. If a side task has to be parked, I can pick up again months later because I use it as a knowledgebase. Also, a quick scan for #gotcha in my notes reminds me of subtle bugs and workarounds in tools and processes that are easily forgotten. I also create quick reference charts for tools I want to become familiar. I hashtag every new note as if I'm making a Twitter post, so things are linked in a useful way. I usually have Obsidian open near the IDE.

Cthulhu_ 4y ago

You've kinda addressed your own concern about productivity though - it's more fun.