Why I want a Tablet PC

I could not live without mind maps. All four of us (Bert, Beth, Eric and I) all use mind maps exclusively to map out a book, then a chapter, then each topic, before we go to storyboards. We don't use the concept of a conventional "outline" for our books--mind maps take us from initial brainstorming to final storyboards.

So when I made my tutorial workbook for the ETech participants, it was a no-brainer to have the attendees create mind-maps, rather than writing linear outline notes. From the overview to the last page, everything in the tutorial was done via mind maps like this initial one:

A typical page in the workbook gave the center part of the map (the central theme) and the users were to fill in the rest of the map as we went along:

The main reason I do it this way is because when you use a linear format rather than pieces radiating out from the center, the brain imposes a hierarchical structure on the content, regardless of whether one was intended. And this matters. It changes, even if subtly, the way you process and understand the material. Another thing mindmaps let you do is make connections between different nodes; something that's especially hard (or impossible) to do with linear notes.

BUT... when it came to ETech, I had completely overlooked one crucial thing...a lot of people take notes on their laptops! And for all the right reasons... they have an electronic copy they can store, file, share, modify, blog, whatever.

That meant, however, that there was a serious mismatch between what they were being asked to do-- fill out mind maps-- vs. what they could do--type linear notes into a text editor or outliner.

And a lot of the mind maps I was asking them to create didn't just involve organizing the words into nodes, but also included simple drawings for them to sketch out. So even if they were using mind-mapping software (I'll give some links in a moment), they still couldn't draw the pictures. Although using mind-mapping software would still be a huge step closer to the intended idea, what I really wanted was a way for people to replicate the experience of taking notes and sketching in the paper workbook. I wanted them to do on the computer exactly what those not using a computer were doing. Mind maps, pictures, everything.

Then... I met a guy from Microsoft Search, Brady Forrest, who I'll never forgive for what happened next. He came up with his tablet PC and showed me the notes he took during my tutorial:

He'd created a mind map... complete with drawings! I fell in love right there in the hallway. Just to make sure I wouldn't recover, he then handed me the tablet PC and the pen and said, "Here... draw something..." Then he even had me enter my contact info into a mind map.

The software he used was Mind Manager from MindJet, and it seemed to do a fantastic job of capturing everything I intended, and in a natural way (and that also lets you collapse the thing in various ways and even print an outline and a set of HTML pages!) Here's a close-up of one section of his map:

There are other programs out there, including an open source Java project Free Mind.

At home, I don't have a problem because I use a Wacom tablet instead of a mouse. But I never realized how hard it would be to take notes in a presentation using my laptop with a tablet. I'd have to, say, ask the guy next to me if I could rest my Wacom on his thigh : )

Anyway, that was the most expensive hallway meeting of my life, because now I simply must have one. And I don't even like Windows. I've been hearing Robert Scoble talk about them (almost endlessly), but they registered a zero on my personal emotional richter scale, until I saw what Brady had done, and it finally hit me how much more natural this was.

If you haven't become a mind map convert, you might not be able to appreciate the dramatic difference between typing linear notes vs. creating branching (non-top-down hierarchy) mind maps. The important point is that your brain knows the difference. You can see things with a mind map that you simply won't see with a hierarchical top-down representation.

I urge you to try it whether in software or on paper. There are some instructions on getting started here and here, but a quick Google search should tell you everything.

Gee, thanks Brady. There goes that new camera I was going to get with my next royalty check ; (