Data Matters

There I was, happy as Larry. I was gently moving away from Obsidian to nicer, cuddlier apps. I'm not really a nerd - more of an aesthete; I want the pretty application with the intuitive interface. So, from Obsidian, I had migrated towards Craft for my notes, and my drafting. "I didn't realise Craft worked on Markdown files." Justin is too genteel to directly point out where my meandering was taking me, but he had a point.

I was first drawn to Obsidian for its data portability. It works on Markdown files, files in a folder on my drive. Craft doesn't. The people behind Craft are working on it, and they seem nice enough, but the reality is that data is neither as portable nor as accessible in Craft. Damned Canadians. So polite, and so right. Back to Obsidian...unless there's something else?

More of that later.

The truth is, I was really enjoying Craft for my MBA assignments. The block structure really suits building an essay from an outline. However, for simple notes, I still prefer Obsidian, particularly as it is the repository for my Kindle highlights. During the day, I continued to work things through in a paper notebook - my "daily driver". Part Bullet journal, part time-blocking tool and part scratch pad.

"I'm using Agenda. Its date-based note taking seems to fit much better with me." Yes. That bloody Canadian, again.

I'd tried Agenda and it had never clicked. I resolved to try again. Oh! Noteplan. What was that again? Ah yes, Markdown files stored on my drive. I like the sound of that.

Writing. If not Craft, then where? Back to Ulysses? Hmmm...then it struck me. IA Writer. Local Markdown files again. There's a theme emerging here.

Markdown for the win. I'm drafting in IA Writer, making notes in Noteplan, possibly managing tasks in Noteplan, and perhaps even overseeing all three in Obsidian. All the data will be in simple text files on my hard drive. Will it work? Maybe.

Will it stick? Maybe.

Can I integrate my ReMarkable? Maybe.

Are there better things that I should be doing with my time? Absolutely. (My apologies to Dr Fleet, who will be slowly banging her head on the desk muttering darkly about how much easier I might find work if I just got on with it.)

First thoughts on Noteplan.

There is a learning curve. Not a particularly steep one, but knowing a few keyboard shortcuts really speeds things along. Dated notes (daily, weekly etc) lends an element of familiarity and structure that suits the way that I have always worked. It's a digital day planner. Obsidian always feels quite amorphous to me; it asks you t0 create your own structure to work around, where I think I need a little direction.

It's early days, and I need to get straight in my head where everything is going to live and how I will interface with it, but it's been a pleasant diversion so far.

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