Friday, July 3, 2020

The graphical knowledge mapping arena is kinda boring

The graphical knowledge mapping arena is kinda boring

Well it was; that is until Thortspace arrived.
Now from this point on I’m going to use TS, as I always seem to misspell Thortspace and insult the developer and seasoned users. I’m really good at insulting anyway, even gifted lol.

 TS; well I define it as knowledge architects dream, yet conversely it may be your nightmare to get to know how to use and abuse it. In my case a willing nightmare.

The dream is that its arrived like prophet preaching salvation to those of us who’ve been trapped in very good, even awesome knowledge management tools that have themselves been trapped in the hierarchical frameworks they cleave to. Hierarchies may become extinct to the knowledge handler of this part of the 21st century. They have their uses for linear processes; yet TS handles that too in a very quirky way.

TS is a complete break from hierarchy.
I am a long time user of TheBrain; it’s integral to my business portfolio of software that enables me to flippantly call myself a Knowledge Architect. Yet the hierarchical structure just kills my expectations for furthering the knowledge management arena.

A note regarding any comparisons between TheBrain and Thortspace:
There aren’t any notable comparisons I can note that are worthy of comparing like for like at this time. Both products are unique. TheBrain is hierarchical and associative and Thortspace is completely free of Hierarchy. They don’t currently compete with each other; yet I believe they will vie for a common user group soon enough. If a user wants to break free from Hierarchy Thortspace is the thing; end of!

TS has indeed been a light at the end of the tunnel for my knowledge mapping/management needs. I am a serious knowledge manager who needs a serious knowledge mapping tool that allows me freedom to toggle between linear and non-linear views. The Think and Do views of TS do just that for me.

Is it perfect? Hell no; there’s much more development required for it be perceived as The knowledge managers tool of choice. But what TS does have is a sound foundation in a format that enables a true sense of where graphical knowledge mapping/management is heading and what it can and shall achieve.

Thortspace is going places and it’s going to get known more in the mainstream pretty damn fast. The user base is growing exponentially and the feedback I’m getting is that corporate is having a more than curious look at it too.

Oh I mentioned the nightmare of getting to know and abuse TS. To date; I’m way past the beginners stage of frustrating functions, capabilities and behaviours of the TS product/service. It’s been a journey of journeys getting to know the product as I tend to (like many of you) make judgments and assumptions of a product based on what I already use in my mainstream.

Getting past the beginners stages of TS is such a relief. It’s at that point when your baptism of fire is over that you may see the real usage of TS. It’s a rather good product with interesting functions and capabilities, even brilliant and genius. I’ve had a few epiphanies already to date regarding what I may use TS for, even some colleagues and clients have requested I show them what it is capable of. I’m going to leave the showcasing to the folks at TS; they’ll do a better job than me at my stage of newbie use of the product/service to date.

I won’t go into any of the functions and capabilities here; I’m hoping Phil Shepherd (Founding Director at TS) or a developer colleague at Thortspace will have the time to contribute a meaningful article that would overview what TS is all about and what it can do for you as an established or seasoned knowledge handler/manager.

Here’s a public TS sphere of their story: https://thort.space/426387003

Thortspace can be found at: https://www.thortspace.com/


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