Customer Reviews

Circus Ponies Notebook V1.2 (Mac)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Notebook (NB) is a powerful database disguised as an outline. Well, not really "an" outline, but a seemingly infinite series of intertwined outlines. You can use it on as simple a level as you wish - just treat it as if it were the spiral pad it pretends to be on the page (with very powerful lookup features) and you're already way ahead in the information storage and retrieval game.

If you want to get a little more complicated, start to think about the implications of an outline made of a contents page (which lets you move the headlines beneath it around as you wish) and divider pages (which are the headlines on the contents page) - each of which is an outline itself, with the headlines of the divider page outlines referring to regular pages within the section marked by that divider. And, oh yes, each of these pages is itself - you got it - an outline!

Now if this isn't enough of a knife drawer for slicing information, you have tabs - each divider page has one and you can add them to any other page, the tabs can be customized in size and color (yes, another outline). You can also "tag" your heads or subheads with graphics or one or more keywords and sort and retrieve by tags (think of a word that begins with "o"...) and you can use the indexing function to find words, or even highlighted words.

I don't think it's possible to have information in this application and not be able to retrieve it. Also, you can do all the normal outline things to rearrange it and work with it. I use it to handle my project list and sometimes to sort out and break down a project. It is a joy to use.

Don't be intimidated if this all sounds a little complex. Try it out and start on a simple level. Experiment. You will find all kinds of things you never thought you could do. If you want a more technical explanation, go to atpm.com , look for archives, then outliners and find Ted Goranson's comparison of this product with a competitor, NoteTaker. The CircusPonies web site, www.circusponies.com , is also worth visiting.

Finally I found a notebook program that does what I need, is well supported, and intelligently designed. My favorite feature is being able to drop whole files (or links to files, if I choose) into the notebook, and then be able to just click on them later for opening in the appropriate application. And for pdf or other image files, I can even preview them in a little frame while still in the notebook.

The way the information is stored (normally invisible to the user) seems to be very robust. Any file which is dropped into the notebook retains its original form as a file inside the notebook bundle (which is really a unix directory).

I now use the program for organizing all my notes at work (I'm a scientist) and at home. I have it open on my computer most of the time.

I completely disagree with the reviewer who couldn't figure out how to use the program, even though he was experienced with computers. For me it was easy, and recently when I needed help with something, I sent email to the support address and got very helpful advice within only a few hours.

I'm buying a copy for my dad now.

This is one of the premier software packages on any platform. In fact, it's a great reason to buy a Mac! It makes it easy to collect, find, write, assemble, and even web publish. Great for a student!

Many reviews of this program have been very good but I wonder how many people have really worked with this program. I have been a Mac user since the first Apple II computer and through the years I have installed hundreds of programs. I have significant and stil unsolved problems with the installation and the company does not seem interested in even answering my pleas for help.
The manual which can be printed from the internet is very, very poorly written and organized. I do believe some answer are there but it takes many hours to find them. In addition the program uses very strange nomenclature such as cell which is really the equivalent of paragraph.
If one can make the program work it will be a very useful program but the company needs to do a lot of work in customer support and re-writing the manual.
W. H. van Houten, MD, PhD.