I agree. The Verge used to be a top tier tech publication, but now many of their articles come across as unnecessarily angry to me — especially since their recent redesign.
One criticism I have of the TfT/PKM space (as a member of it) is it often puts too much onus on the tool or system you use. The human element is often diminished in favor of replicating our brains in our notes.
So instead of making connections in your mind while using the TfT app as an external thought workspace, we put this extra process on top to make the TfT system a replication of our brains in and of itself. For most people, this is an unsustainable effort (myself included).
As I see it, the tool is simply the place we work out ideas and how we mentally relate them to one another. Whether a plaintext file or an interlinked set of notes is sufficient to achieve that end goal is up to the individual.
I’ve been using Reader since just after the private beta launched. It’s changed the way I read and interact with articles online. Instapaper was a favorite of mine in the early iOS days but it sadly and continually became a junk drawer. Obviously Reader still has that potential but the baked-in processing workflow has helped me abate that some.
I did a video recently on YT where I walk through the app if anyone wants to take a look before you sign up.
I used to use TextExpander, but their app started to feel unpolished and was a bit expensive for my tastes. I've been using Espanso now for the most of the last year and I've been enjoying it. I even made a video about it [0].
My favorite "feature" is the fact that it works so easily cross-platform.
As someone who has been following productivity/GTD for 10 years, this is the clearest explanation of the "why" behind GTD I've seen. Thanks so much for sharing it.
So much of the productivity world is still lifehacks or tricks to get an "extra edge". Anyone who has gone down that path knows it only goes so far. Same for the folks who focus solely on the tools, except that path is an endless circle.
Yet what matters most is being able to embrace the process of life, recognize where you are now, and make adjustments on the way to improve.
I did a first look run-through of Obsidian on YouTube if anyone would find it helpful. It's a top-of-the-list recommendation for personal knowledge management software in my book. Kind, helpful community around the software too.