So I played with it a bit and my initial impression was pretty similar to the ones above around “why not use dedicated apps” and “this seems very Powerpoint-esque”.
That being said after seeing:
and
I can think of some exciting things I could do based off of those ideas, so I’ll probably give Curio another go tomorrow. Seems like it might be the type of app that requires a slight adjustment in thinking on my part. I think even if I don’t land on Curio in the end, it’ll spark some important workflow changes in the long run…
Would also be great to hear some comparisons between Curio and Scapple for those using Curio.
Disclaimer: I first learned about Scapple years ago but have zero experience using it, and my assessment is purely based on the sales pitch on the website.
My impression is Scapple is all about visual presentation of ideas, while Curio goes fairly deep beyond it. Some of Curio’s more powerful features allow users to reference and link to other resources, both within Curio and out on the web. For example:
Linking Figures, allowing you to create hyperlinks to other resources within Curio
I have not used these features extensively during my one month of usage, but these features are clearly geared towards research. Curio offers those features on top of a simple “digital whiteboard” at a higher price (starting at $69.99 vs. Scapple at $18), so if a whiteboard is all one is looking for, Scapple might be a better fit.
I replaced Mindnode with Curio around 18 months ago and have come to love it.
For visual brainstorming and collecting together all the files and documentation for a project, it is a fantastic tool. I think visually and find the concept maps in Curio invaluable. I can control every aspect and build a visual idea of my project much better than I could with simple mind mapping software. I also work on complex coding projects as well as other basic ones and having a Curio workspace always makes sense.
I especially find it useful for writing projects and planning lectures, this is where it’s made my life much easier. The tools in Curio fit this kind of work perfectly.
I use it with Obsidian using Hook links, and this means I can quickly get to my Curio projects from within my research system. I find the two work together extremely well, and I always end up creating Markdown from the information in Curio. It helps overcome all the shortcomings of markdown’s lack of graphics and adds the ability to visualize in almost unlimited ways.
Curio has a concept called an “idea graph” (some might call it a “concept diagram”) that could be compared to Scapple – but then brings a lot more capability to the table.
Curio makes it easy to link “figures” on the workspace – the “idea space”. There are lots of types of “figures” – in fact, everything you put on an idea space is a figure: a shape, a text box, a combination of text-box and shape. But then, Curio takes it further by offering “collection figures” – figures within figures, each with its own capabilities: lists, tables, index cards, pinboards, stacks. And more.
So, a concept diagram, or idea graph, can comprise any number of these figures or collection figures – enabling the composition of graphically-rich content with far more capability than most of the other mapping / diagraming apps I’ve used. I prefer Curio diagraming to OmniGraffle, Tinderbox maps, MindManager context diagrams, and others.
@xurc’s “Random Ideas” example, above, is an example of Curio’s “idea graphs”.
Custom variables are text replacements for variables you create and use throughout your project. For example, you can create a custom variable named Author and give it a value of George, then use the {{Author}} variable markup syntax in your project’s text figures.
Custom data allows you to create project-wide formatted keys, such as Price or Score, and then assign values to those keys for each figure, adding custom meta data to every figure for searching and export purposes.
@anon41602260 Everything you write is clear English but I still struggle to envision “idea graphs” in practice. Can you share a real-life example? Or even a screencast? This feature seems very powerful but perhaps I’m too dense. I think one really concrete example would help me subsequently brainstorm how I might use this feature. (I know I’m asking a lot, but I figured it’s worth an “ask”)
PDFs can be dragged into a Curio idea space and then exploded or “spread” into its individual pages, either in that idea space or across multiple idea spaces – e.g., one page of the PDF on each idea space.
Select text within the PDF and use the annotation tools in the inspector to apply highlighting colors, strikethrough, or underline.
Only the PDF annotation tools on the inspector bar can create annotations that are embedded within the PDF itself. Anything you create on top of or around the PDF figure using any other Curio features — such as text figures, images, scribbles, lists, mind maps, etc. — are not stored within the PDF and only exist on the idea space.
If you need more annotation tools than what Curio offers you can double-click on the PDF figure to launch the PDF file in your default PDF viewing application. After annotations are made, returning back to Curio will cause the PDF to refresh itself on the idea space to reveal those new annotations.
Funny you should mention Scapple
This giant project that I’ve been showing pieces of started out in Scapple, and I set it aside for awhile, then realized that I needed more power. The ability to link to files, and have multiple Idea Spaces, etc. So I re-upped Curio on Nov 3.
Scapple is a great tool, and worth $18. But it is limited. You can drop in images, and text, draw connecting lines between and style the text and lines. That’s about it, and sometimes all you need.
Here’s a side-by-side of the Scapple project, and the same diagram as it has developed in Curio. Note that this Idea Space is now one of many, as can be seen in the Organizer on the left of the screen.
Also note that the Scapple diagram is “dead”. The file names are there, but I would have to go find them myself. At the moment, I have 442 source code files, 364 image files (most old), 170 .csv and .xlsx files. Fortunately, I don’t have to touch all of these, but some are important, some less so.
So as I said above, the diagrams tell me where data comes from, and where it goes to, which code creates the plot files, etc.
Unfortunately their tagline is a bit too much for me. Reads like marketing junkies more than actual people. The tagline is: “Because deep thinking doesn’t happen in front of a computer.” Ugh. I’m questioning if they’ve ever engaged in deep thinking themselves. Or maybe they think deep thinking is watching Harry Potter for the 50th time. Sorry for the snark, but hard to take them seriously based on how they present themselves.
Considering that it’s built by Ink and Switch, I would bet they engage in a lot of deep thinking
But agreed, I work completely opposite to the idea of computers ≠ deep thinking. Can’t really get any deep work done on tablets/phones, laptops are best for me to mold to my workflow.
I’ve met the developers and joined them on some Zoom meetings where folks from many disciplines talk about their ideas. I’ve also read some of the articles they’ve published at CHI. They are an amazing group of developers and very deep thinkers.
And just to reiterate (can’t remember what I’ve mentioned here or elsewhere), there are a couple of lines of text in the lower corner of the Curio Idea Space. Since I turned on the checkmarks, they show up in my Reminders. That means noting something to do without losing focus switching to another app.
If I click the link in Reminders, the Project and Idea Space open in Curio, and it briefly highlights the text.
I bought Curio on an impulse as it struck me that it could be a digital pinboard where I could pin files pertaining to a custom project together on a virtual Corkboard.
It hasn’t clicked for me yet especially as I write out thoughts in Craft on my iPad with the pencil.
I’m quite eager to make it click as I’m extremely visual and Mindmap quite a bit.
I’m enjoying the responses of this group. Keep ‘em coming!
