Roam Research for thinking and knowledge management

[ThatGuy]

@anon41602260

Roam introduced automatic backups (to a local folder) this week. We can configure hourly or daily backups of each graph

I think it only works with Chrome or Chrome-based browsers that support access to local storage (e.g. Edge). So not Brave and (obviously) not Safari.

[anon85228692]

@lesamurai

People who say Obsidian can do the same will only admit its failure after they upgrade to Roam.

Oh, come on. Please lighten the proselytism, you may not be aware of it but you come across as pretty disdainful.
I used Roam way when it was fresh, way, way before it was paid. I actually still have my account and I can use it for free because I was grandfathered into my graphs.
I am still. Not. Using it. At all. And I never liked it even before I found out I didn’t like its CEO.

Even if I did not have that account but I would still find it superior, I would pay for it, because it would be a professional expense and I am all for tools that allow for better thinking. I have gladly paid $100 for Obsidian even though I didn’t have to.

Well, Roam is not worth a penny to me. It is not « better software ». It’s very interesting software, it has brought to light many paradigms that are indeed changing the way we think and that supercharged the note-taking revolution we are seeing. For this, I will be always be grateful to this company.

But with Obsidian, I can do things with my local Markdown files in scripting, I have E2EE, reliable offline access, Roam does not provide any of that. Does it make a superior tool? For me, yes, because I care about that so much more than what Roam offers.

It’s all well and good you found your Holy Grail with Roam. Great, happy for you. And, by all means, let’s talk about what makes which tool great. But – this is an age-old discussion in the field of tech – please recognize that your solution does not fit everyone, and trying to evangelize people saying « software A is so much better, you just haven’t seen the light » is probably a waste of your own time and even, if you’re careless, a pretty reliable way to antagonize people.

[ryanjamurphy]

The heck? Roam isn’t a cult, but you can’t actually explain why it’s good. People can only “get it” by being able to get through the “learning curve” and by investing lots of money.

To make your implication clear, you’re saying that folks who use Roam are smarter (or at least more “willing to learn”) and richer than other folks.

This is the exact kind of malignant behaviour that other folks who use Roam find themselves apologizing for. And, again, it’s way off the mark from a discussion about the actual apps…

[anon41602260]

Hmmm.

@lesamurai

The same happens with this, people who cannot afford Roam tries to convince themselves and others that Obsidian is a good as Roam until they finally get the chance to afford Roam and realize they would have never achieved that with Obsidian.

For what it’s worth, I can afford Roam and, recently sprang for a year’s service. I like the free-flowing nature of it, but I’m put off by the “we’ll finish this app when we get around to it” UX, and the “don’t mind the confusing help we provide – just browse YT for out-of-date videos” support. And then I spent an afternoon (with Ryan’s excellent help) getting stuff out of Roam into Obsidian.

I’m not getting rid of it, but it will fill a much narrower niche than I imagined.

[eternalux]

You sound like a bigot to the Chinese, while still giving no evidence as to why Roam is better.

[DrJJWMac]

@lesamurai

Some people like innovative products. Some people like the free version of those.

Translation: All people like innovative products. Some people are however smart enough to find innovative products that provide what they need without also requiring them to pay an arm and leg to use (let alone without taking their data away from them for the privilege to do so).

I rarely speak as such on this forum, but this now reminds me of the days of Usenet. It is time for the proverbial “plunk” sound of someone who is being moved to the kill filter.

–
JJW

[ryanjamurphy]

Dynalist’s/Obsidian’s devs are Canadian.

And before you get too high and mighty about copycat behaviours the benefits of competition, you might want to reconsider where Roam came from and where it’s going (Roam launched a command palette and settings menu just after this tweet).

[Daveb08]

Donald(?) is that you. Remember Twitter!

[lesamurai]

So, my messages now are being flagged, censored, and deleted because I think differently. But Roam is a cult, oh yeah. Sorry guys, but it is not possible to argue or to discuss a topic if you ban my answers when you don’t like them. And I won’t allow this fascist attitude. End of the discussion for me here.

[eternalux]

Wasn’t much of a discussion anyways, you just kept spouting off that Roam was superior without really backing any of it up. I don’t think anyone will miss your prejudiced posting around here.

[Jeremy]