Here's the simple answer to the question -- Why Outliners? #
Everywhere you look in computers you'll find recursive data structures. Instead of making lots of different tools for managing those recursive structures, make one really good one, and use it to edit all the structures.#
That's why I always felt there should be a great outliner in the ROMs of computers going all the way back to the Apple II. The web should have an outliner baked in.#
Our brains don't have outliners baked in, so there's no way for the conscious mind to visualize the information the brain is storing and organizing. That's why the simple task of visually mapping what's in your brain activates a kind of intelligence that can't be activated otherwise.#
Last update: Friday January 28, 2022; 3:20 PM EST.
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)