Looking at the comments, I think it’s worth bringing this to the discussion:
There are many different “brain types” (apologies if that’s an established term already, I’m using it generally). We know the different types of learners (auditory, visual, kinaesthetic), and we’re just starting to realize the wide range of the different internal senses (aphantasia has now branched significantly and we’re (for example) finding people with nothing but a monotone inner monologue, or people who can easily visualize a 3D shape but can’t use their “mind’s ear” to hear, and many many more.)
Personally, I am a kinaesthetic learner/thinker with object permanence issues and one of the challenges in my life has been keeping track of things. In interviewing people I’ve found that this combination is not very common in the population, but is there. One of the strengths of his combo is “feeling” the connections between things. Like Graph database vs SQL.
This tool strikes me as being written by someone who struggles with similar challenges, whether they have the same combination of mental traits or not.
- “What was the movie with that really meaningful theme? I think it would help communicate what I’m trying to communicate..”
- “I’m at a restaurant. Did I like this compelling menu item the last time I had it or am I going to be re-disappointed?”
- “Friend asked me for book recommendations. What books have changed me for the better and why?”
- “What breakthroughs have happened in (branch of science)? Yes I could read papers, but which ones have I already read?”. I have an example on this one, though I can’t tell you why I remember it clearly: When it came out way back in the day I read one of the first articles about connecting organic material to silicon (Scientific American I think). Over the years that led to OLED technology and I think the whole journey (and it’s offshoots) are pretty cool.
- “Who have I met who would be interested in ______?” / “... who I can ask for good advice about this problem?”
For many these are trivial questions, but for people like me they can be as challenging as climbing a mountain.
I am like this. I even had that restaurant example a few weeks ago. I ended up ordering something different - or so I thought. When it came I remembered it was what I had enjoyed previously :)
My problem with an app like this is that it is a huge investment before it pays off. And will it pay off? Will I check an app while out for dinner? Some people might but I definitely wouldn't.
I’m not sure if it needs a huge investment. Does a system like this get better as you invest? 100%. But if it’s contextual it might have such low friction that you barely notice using it. Like you add a note “Curry 8/10”, and that note gets automatically added to the restaurant (since that’s where you were when you made the note). Next time you go (or plan to go), it would pop up your previous experiences without needing extra taps.
Restaurants are more complicated because of the social view of checking your phone while out with people, but I think a similar place where it shines is the grocery store. The number of times I bought the same flavour of listerine that I can’t stand is upsetting.
I am trying to make it so it very quick to add content which automatically gets put in the right place. This reduces the time investment. But yes, it does take some commitement.
There are many different “brain types” (apologies if that’s an established term already, I’m using it generally). We know the different types of learners (auditory, visual, kinaesthetic), and we’re just starting to realize the wide range of the different internal senses (aphantasia has now branched significantly and we’re (for example) finding people with nothing but a monotone inner monologue, or people who can easily visualize a 3D shape but can’t use their “mind’s ear” to hear, and many many more.)
Personally, I am a kinaesthetic learner/thinker with object permanence issues and one of the challenges in my life has been keeping track of things. In interviewing people I’ve found that this combination is not very common in the population, but is there. One of the strengths of his combo is “feeling” the connections between things. Like Graph database vs SQL.
This tool strikes me as being written by someone who struggles with similar challenges, whether they have the same combination of mental traits or not.
- “What was the movie with that really meaningful theme? I think it would help communicate what I’m trying to communicate..”
- “I’m at a restaurant. Did I like this compelling menu item the last time I had it or am I going to be re-disappointed?”
- “Friend asked me for book recommendations. What books have changed me for the better and why?”
- “What breakthroughs have happened in (branch of science)? Yes I could read papers, but which ones have I already read?”. I have an example on this one, though I can’t tell you why I remember it clearly: When it came out way back in the day I read one of the first articles about connecting organic material to silicon (Scientific American I think). Over the years that led to OLED technology and I think the whole journey (and it’s offshoots) are pretty cool.
- “Who have I met who would be interested in ______?” / “... who I can ask for good advice about this problem?”
For many these are trivial questions, but for people like me they can be as challenging as climbing a mountain.