Anyone Using Zoot?

[sphere]

I am curious if anyone using Zoot or has used it and can offer insight?  It seems like it has a unique interface that could help reduce the time spent entering information into one's system.  This is provided the data being collected comes primarily from email, web pages,  other "clippings", rss feeds, twitter and pocket.  A weakness might be imputing data  from other sources.   

It seems as though Zoot has had numerous chapters over the years that have attracted different users.  A major change was when it made the change to rich text.  It seems that people's opinion on it as a tool is based somewhat on when they used it. 

Am I correct in feeling it is unique?  Are there other similar information managers?

For those who have used it, when did you use it and what limitations did you encountered? What were the reasons you passed on adopting it as part of your toolset? 

For those who still use it as a part of your tool set, what kind of information do you through at it? I am specifically interested in pieces of information that it was not intended to store.   

I like utilizing a information manager that uses the filesystem to store information, feeling it is more future proof. It also allows the use of other tools to examine and use your data.  Zoot relies on interconnected databases. Seems like that could look your data up.

I realize that user documentation is a place where the developer has let the ball drop.  I am curious how that impacted your ability to fully grasp information manager's utility.

Thank you

[superboyac]

I have many comments regarding Zoot over the years.  Do a search on my username and you'll find a lot of good stuff.

I haven't tried their latest revamp.  It looks good.  But why?  It definitely is unique.  I'm of the opinion currently that if you don't want to use the popular products like Evernote or Onenote, etc., the next best overall option is RIghtnote, and everything else is a distant third.

Onenote could've been the one, lol.  But this latest thing they did is worrisome in that they are trying to make it only work if you login with a microsoft account.  And they completely revamped the interface which is never good for microsoft.  I may myself go back to rightnote soon.  Zoot, to me, the unique feature is the 3-pane email-like system.  WHy do i need that?  i dont know.  I can accomplish similarly with a tree heirarchy.  Instead of a root folder and the contents in the separate pane....you can have a branch, with the contents in the sub-branches.  Big whoop.  And rightnote has been stable for a while and still being updated, also another vote of confidence.  Zoot didnt do ANYTHING for like 20 years, and now they have a new version, and who knows if they will not do anything for another 20 years.

[sphere]

I have many comments regarding Zoot over the years.  Do a search on my username and you'll find a lot of good stuff.

I had given a search and seen a number of your comments. The last thread was from about 4 years ago. I will take another look.

I haven't tried their latest revamp.  It looks good.  But why?  It definitely is unique.

 

It seems like Zoot has some offerings that  other information managers do not. But I could be (and likely am) mistaken about that.  Based on the user documentation, it seems like Zoot has been designed with some very specific use-cases to manage information that arrives from specific sources.  Zoot can monitor email(more on that later), rss feeds (forums, articles & updates etc), twitter (commentary, articles & whatever) pocket (things "to read later" ), and based on user defined rules, create tasks, download web pages (in the readability format) and more.  It seems that many who use Zoot leverage zoots ability to process email   Items/tasks etc can be added to your created, added to your calendar, websites downloaded  and filed... all when an email is received.  Like many organizers, Zoot has a capture utility where you can send things to Zoot or also send them up to one of your cloud services.  It has a scrapbbok, which seems to operate like a clipboard monitor (not sure if rules can be created for clippings).  It is the automaton that I find appealing and how it interfaces with email, which at times consumes alot of my time

I'm of the opinion currently that if you don't want to use the popular products like Evernote or Onenote, etc., the next best overall option is RIghtnote, and everything else is a distant third.

I have not tried out  RightNote, but it does have its fair number of fans. It strikes me as more similar to OneNote in how you can organize information.

Onenote could've been the one, lol.  But this latest thing they did is worrisome in that they are trying to make it only work if you login with a microsoft account.  And they completely revamped the interface which is never good for microsoft.

  Agreed I hope that a OneNote desktop app that can operate as a standalone app, without any internet access,  makes a comeback.  Yes I would like to be able to sync, but on my own terms.

I may myself go back to rightnote soon.  Zoot, to me, the unique feature is the 3-pane email-like system.  Why do i need that?  i dont know.  I can accomplish similarly with a tree heirarchy.  Instead of a root folder and the contents in the separate pane....you can have a branch, with the contents in the sub-branches.  Big whoop. 

What about input. Does Rightnote offer any sort of automated input?  That is really what I am looking for.  Also, is RightNote tablet friendly?  Zoot looks like it might work on a tablet.

I suspect that Zoot owes much of its inspiration to the email clients of the past.  I say this having not actually used the software.  I remember essentialPIM having a similar feel.

And rightnote has been stable for a while and still being updated, also another vote of confidence.  Zoot didnt do ANYTHING for like 20 years, and now they have a new version, and who knows if they will not do anything for another 20 years.

Really 20 years? I realized that it has eben around for 20 years.  The future of the software, updates and development do concern me as well.

[superboyac]

It seems like Zoot has some offerings that  other information managers do not. But I could be (and likely am) mistaken about that.  Based on the user documentation, it seems like Zoot has been designed with some very specific use-cases to manage information that arrives from specific sources.  Zoot can monitor email(more on that later), rss feeds (forums, articles & updates etc), twitter (commentary, articles & whatever) pocket (things "to read later" ), and based on user defined rules, create tasks, download web pages (in the readability format) and more.  It seems that many who use Zoot leverage zoots ability to process email   Items/tasks etc can be added to your created, added to your calendar, websites downloaded  and filed... all when an email is received.  Like many organizers, Zoot has a capture utility where you can send things to Zoot or also send them up to one of your cloud services.  It has a scrapbbok, which seems to operate like a clipboard monitor (not sure if rules can be created for clippings).  It is the automaton that I find appealing and how it interfaces with email, which at times consumes alot of my time

-sphere (October 08, 2019, 02:32 PM)

ah!  yes i forgot about those email automation things.  yes thats cool, and im starting to consider checking it out again.  now i remember....that was cool at the time, but then the desktop search indexers started coming out.  so as far as searching through email etc, those seemed to replace it for me.  Now they dont offer anything in terms of organizing emails etc., so that is a very specific thing to consider.  i wouldnt mind a tool like that.  but i can also see just copy/pasting important emails i want to organize into my actual organizer like rightnote or onenote, which i already do.  so its something to balance.  im very interested to see where zoot has come.

Really 20 years? I realized that it has eben around for 20 years.  The future of the software, updates and development do concern me as well.

-sphere (October 08, 2019, 02:32 PM)

yea zoot has been around for a very long time, and nothing was happening for i want to say at least 5 years, maybe 10.  they were around when keynote was still popular.

[sphere]

ah!  yes i forgot about those email automation things.  yes thats cool, and im starting to consider checking it out again.  now i remember....that was cool at the time, but then the desktop search indexers started coming out.  so as far as searching through email etc, those seemed to replace it for me.  Now they dont offer anything in terms of organizing emails etc., so that is a very specific thing to consider.  i wouldnt mind a tool like that.  but i can also see just copy/pasting important emails i want to organize into my actual organizer like rightnote or onenote, which i already do.  so its something to balance.  im very interested to see where zoot has come.

I would be very curious what your thoughts are after picking it up again.  I'm not sure if it would replace my email client. It does integrate with Outlook. However, having the ability to have its rules extract things from emails it receives seems of great benefit.  Just setting it up with its own email and sending it items to "process" could be of great use.

yea zoot has been around for a very long time, and nothing was happening for i want to say at least 5 years, maybe 10.  they were around when keynote was still popular.

yes I knew that they had been around for a long time. Just do not realize that the development was so inconsistent.