The Cornell Method. Developed in the 1950s by Cornell University, this is the most common note taking method around. In fact, the outline method is likely inspired by this method as there are similarities to it. In this method, you are still using key points, but this method goes deeper into the organizing method. Aug 31, 2020 Price: starting with a free plan, you can get the Bear Pro subscription for $1.49 monthly or $14.99 annually options. This beautiful note-taking app is laser-focused on Apple products and allows you to experience the beauty of writing wherever your inspiration strikes.
Desk PM
Desk PM is a blogging application. I talked about it here. It has come a long way since. It has now spawned two other related apps.
Desk PM is an application with three features:
The product is now broken into three iterations:
Desk PM does everything, Desk MD dumps the WYSIWYG environment, and Desk NT dumps publishing.
Desk PM ($19.99)
Desk PM is a blogging solution. It lets you write, either in WYSIWYG or in markdown, and then publish to a wide variety of blogging platforms. It is competing with products like Blogo, Byword, and MarsEdit. In that space, these are some of the features of the competing solutions:
A cursory look at this table and a few things jump out at you. Blogo does more but only for 3 blogging platforms. MarsEdit is the older product in the category and its price reflects that. DeskPM is competitive in this marketplace.
The critical differentiator in this market would be the environment provided by the products for you to write in. I have no experience with Blogo, so I would say that the leaders in this field are DeskPM and Byword. Byword was designed as a markdown based text editor for writing. The publishing function is an add-on to that capability. Byword has a full-screen mode and a line/paragraph focus which is industry leading. This is the market DeskPM is designed for. Its user experience and interface design is its main differentiator from Byword. They are both well designed products and you wouldn't be unhappy in either.
In version 2.1, Desk PM has added three features:
Desk PM still saves its files in a proprietary format, denoted by an extension .dpm. It is actually a package with the text file of your content and a settings file. The text file does contain your document, it has some screwy markup, but that is fixable if you need it. I would have preferred it if the application let me work in pure text files alone. It doesn't. It opens a markdown text file, it lets you add to it, but you cannot save the document as a markdown text file, you have to export it as a markdown file and the save function will ask you to make a new file with the .dpm extension. I use Ulysses and Sublime Text 3 to edit my text files. They all add features to my workflow, and I am not prepared to go all in with some proprietary format which is accessible by only one program. That is a deal breaker for me. I like the environment, like what it does with the publishing features, but I am not going to adopt a proprietary format for my work. So, if I am using Desk PM to publish, the process is always accompanied by writing in it and exporting the document periodically to markdown files. I work on the markdown files in other programs and then bring the content back to Desk PM. This is a pain. I have to maintain two versions of the same document and it adds unnecessary friction to the workflow. Dungeon siege 2 steam no mouse. As you can tell from my feelings about proprietary formats, Desk PM currently doesn't figure in my workflow. It is a pity, because the writing environment is well designed. If you are willing to adopt Desk PM as your sole writing and publishing environment, this is not going to be as big a deal for you.
Desk PM is a well designed writing and publishing solution and is recommended with reservations.
Desk MD ($14.99)
Desk MD
Desk MD is a markdown editor without the WYSIWYG feature. It does away with the WYSIWYG mode and concentrates on Markdown. It is positioned as a markdown based blogging product. This is a product with a lot of promise hobbled by poor execution.
Again, the proprietary format. It saves files with the .dpm extension. A markdown editor which doesn't save its files as markdown text files. Someone thought this was a good idea? It lets you open markdown text files, but when you want to save it, it insists on the .dpm extension. Excuse me?
The Desk family of products share the same codebase. But don't tease me. In Desk PM, tables are implemented in WYSIWYG mode. In Desk MD, there is no WYSIWYG mode, so tables are not available. But they show up as an inaccessible feature in the Format menu.
Tables are out of your reach
It has the publishing features from Desk PM. So, you can write and publish in it. It is a nice environment to write in. But the product doesn't seem very well thought through. This is the category where there is a ton of competition in the marketplace. I could go old listing out all the markdown based text editors in the market, so, I am going to name just two. Two of the behemoths in the marketplace are iA Writer and Byword. You can argue about which is the best environment to write in for you, but they are both well designed alternatives which are playing in this space. So what makes Desk MD special in this space? I don't have a good answer to that question. Why would one adopt Desk MD instead of the competitors? I also don't have a good answer to that one.
What could the developer do to make this product competitive?
At this point in the product evolution, I cannot recommend Desk MD for anyone but those users of Desk PM who are irritated by its support of WYSIWYG mode. There are better markdown editors in the marketplace. Computer thinks tablet is a mouse.
Desk NT ($9.99)
Desk NT
I have no idea why this product exists.
We live in a mobile world. Notes are documents we want to be accessible everywhere. Desk NT doesn't have an iOS equivalent, so notes you take in it are restricted to the Mac and the Desk NT application.
There is no opportunity to add to the notes collection easily. You have to always have the application open and switch to it, to make your notes. No ability to be in one application and quickly jot down a note for Desk NT from that application. No quick entry option.
It seems the developer took the Desk PM product, stripped out the publishing and called it Desk NT, and is trying to sell that as a note-taking solution. I don't see how this is better than any of the other available options for taking notes.
So, what happened?
The developer of a very successful product Desk PM now has three products in the marketplace, two of which are badly designed and ill-conceived. This is what the developer says about the product proliferation decision: 'With version 2.0 I’ve segmented the original award-winning app into three distinct products, based on community and customer feedback!'
Lesson No. 1
Product mix decisions should never be based on customer feedback. The customers you have are already using Desk PM, they have no idea what the market would be for a markdown based pubishing solution or a note-taking app. They will express an opinion, specially if you ask them to, but it is by definition an ill-informed opinion. You should ignore them. Simple rule: Listen to them when they talk about Desk PM, ignore everything else.
What is the relevant criteria for deciding on a line extension like this one?
Lesson No. 2Desk Nt 1 1 – A Writing And Notetaking Apps
Focus. You are an independent. You need to focus on one product. Even if you were not an independent, I would give you the same advice. Focus on one product. Make it the best product in the marketplace. Churn like hell in that marketplace. When consumers think of blogging and the Mac, the only name on their minds should be Desk PM. Don't let anything distract you from that task. That marketplace has a lot of charm. Fewer competitors and a lot of users. It is a specialized task. You can be innovative and market leading in that category. You had a good start with version 1.0 of the product. Make it count.
You want a new challenge? Make an iOS version of Desk PM. Write and publish from any device, anywhere.
Don't look at ancillary markets and drool. My product can also be a markdown editor, there are so many more people buying markdown editors than blogging tools, let us go to that market. I am going to take my product, strip out the non-essentials and then I can be competitive in that market. No, you won't. The people in the marketplace making markdown editors are focussed on making the best markdown editor they can make. Your markdown product is a stripped down version of a market leading product in another category. You are not competitive. Don't waste your time.
So what do we do now?
If I was the developer, this is what I would do:
What does this do? It gets rid of the confusion. Gives your products a much cleaner focus. Lets you own 'write and publish'. Makes you competitive.
In the meantime, Desk PM is recommended with reservations. Ravenfield beta 6 free mac. Avoid Desk MD and Desk NT.
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Note: I purchased Desk PM. Review codes were provided by the developer for Desk MD and Desk NT. Of course, after this I will not be surprised if developers refuse to issue me review codes.
Note: Arm & Hammer Cat Litter is a brand extension. Arm & Hammer Advance White toothpaste is a line extension. When you go to a different category it is a brand extension. When you are playing in the same category with a different variation, it is a line extension. So, Desk MD and Desk NT are line extensions of Desk PM. If the developer made a weather app, called Desk Weather, that would be a brand extension.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie
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