History of ThinkTank Outliner Software
Outlining is a powerful methodology that structures text into ordered groups of nested blocks. These blocks relate to each other by topic or some other semantic, creating an ordered tree hierarchy of information. From long-form texts with headings and sub-headings to terse sentence fragments organized in bullet lists, outliners assist our minds in versatile ways. They help us plan, record information, and reduce the mental burden of unrecorded ideas and tasks.
One of the earliest electronic outlining applications was ThinkTank, which played a significant role in shaping the landscape of outliner software. Let’s delve into its history and impact:
The Birth of ThinkTank
- ThinkTank was developed by software developer Dave Winer, his brother Peter Winer, and Doug Baron.
- Released in June 1984, ThinkTank 128 marked one of the first electronic outlining applications.
ThinkTank Features
- Hierarchical Structure: ThinkTank allowed users to organize their ideas into a complex hierarchy. Each idea became a block, and these blocks formed nodes in an ordered tree graph.
- Editing Capabilities: Users could edit and manipulate the blocks, rearranging them as needed.
- Cross-Platform: Initially available for Apple II and Apple III, ThinkTank was later ported to PC.
MORE: The Successor
- In 1986, Dave Winer created MORE, an outline processor application specifically for the Macintosh.
- Unlike ThinkTank, MORE was not ported to other platforms.
- MORE continued the tradition of structuring text as blocks within an ordered tree graph.
Legacy and Influence
- ThinkTank and MORE laid the groundwork for subsequent outliner tools.
- Their impact extended beyond mere note-taking; they became tools for thought and personal information management.
- Users with aggressive note-taking habits found themselves grappling with questions about how to structure their knowledge, plans, and work.
- The commonalities among outliner tools—from org-mode to Logseq—include the structured representation of text as nodes in a tree graph, navigation, and manipulation of the tree, and the ability to promote, demote, reorder, and paste nodes.
In summary, ThinkTank’s legacy lives on in the evolution of outliner software. Its influence continues to shape how we organize information, plan, and think. 🌟4231
