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Roam's certainly trying! I'm curious about approaches which maintain object permanence. Most approaches, incl Roam's, are heavy on "switching the primary focus" as a core operation. I want to see more unusual ideas! Most attempts here are so boring. Here's a weird prototype: pic.twitter.com/nX9OOJ9c1h
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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Peripheral vision emphasizes the concrete.
Unread digital books and papers live in some folder or app, invisible until I decide that “it’s reading time.” But that confuses cause and effect. pic.twitter.com/3iHuLIEZYq
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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If I leave books lying on my coffee table, I’ll naturally notice them at receptive moments. I'll read a book if I feel an actual, concrete interest in it. By contrast, the motivation to read a digital book comes from abstract interest in the habit of reading.
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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Peripheral vision offers context.
If I mark up a physical book then later flip through to see my margin notes, I’ll always see them in the context of the surrounding text. By contrast, digital annotation listings usually display only the text I highlighted, removed from context. pic.twitter.com/OLlkjLpipe
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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The primary “unit” in such systems is a single highlight or note, but that’s not how I think. Marginalia have fuzzy boundaries, and I often think of a page’s markings as a single unit.
LiquidText is a lovely counterexample: it works hard to display annotations in context. pic.twitter.com/A5rz26mppH
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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In digital note systems, the UI centers on the experience of writing one note. The core operations and representations fixate on “the note you have open,” not on larger structures. I often can’t simultaneously see another note I’ve just finished writing—let alone the last four.
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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Most systems barely support multiple windows, but even if I can open multiple windows, it’s awkward to arrange them into the spatial relationships I might naturally use for physical index cards. Rather than peripheral vision, it’s like I’m wearing horse blinders and mittens. pic.twitter.com/1akRdeFfv2
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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Backlinks are a weak peripheral vision, and they help, but they’re generally about switching the one note you have open, not an effective means of sense-making across many notes. Contextual backlinks help, but if you navigate, you lose object permanence.
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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If I read an old digital note, I get the unnerving sense that it’s part of some “whole” that I can’t see at all—no matter how much hypertext is involved. Working with physical notes, I’d shuffle notes around to make sense of the structure. There isn’t a digital equivalent.
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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What are the best examples and design patterns of peripheral vision in software interfaces?
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Kris
@KrisAbdelmessih
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5. pro |
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just started to tinker with @RoamResearch which seems like a step in the direction for allowing peripheral vision. Diagram and sidebars. It just got into the wild.
following this thread for more example, great topic
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Roam Research
@RoamResearch
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5. pro |
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This is yours?
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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Yeah.
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Jason Crawford
@jasoncrawford
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6. pro |
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Did you ever see @gingkoapp ?
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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9. pro |
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Someone else recommended it on this thread, and I think it was probably the most interesting reference that emerged! From my notes on it: pic.twitter.com/L2Fn2wxSiS
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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5. pro |
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(just saw twitter.com/RoamResearch/s…. nice! that's satisfyingly weird! I don't think any of these ideas actually solve the problem, but we'll get there through more play in this fashion…)
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Jason Benn
@jasoncbenn
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6. pro |
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Off-topic, but I'd love to see your executable strategy for writing! I started my greenfield notes system a couple months ago and articulating my entire worldview for the first time means my writing inbox is massive. I currently use a variant of Cal Newport's blog writing system.
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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6. pro |
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Too molten to publish, but hope to share something next year.
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Emmanuel Quartey
@equartey
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16. sij |
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You know that thing where you see something and you suddenly can’t imagine a world without it? Andy, I need this. Please. What combination of hoops do I need to jump through to have this tool for thinking on my laptop? Outright begging!
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Andy Matuschak
@andy_matuschak
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16. sij |
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I appreciate those kind words! Right now I have lots of prototypes of various elements, not a coherent tool. Sorry!
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