Quite frankly I can't keep up with the information explosion. I run a private practice in Psychology, teach at a community college, attend meetings, and I have to keep all of the home records for the family as well as correspondence. I have calendars and to-do lists coming out the kazoo (actually the musical instrument) as well as bits and pieces of post-its, notes, and memos in piles. I keep a MISC file on my computer desktop to dump stuff into that I can't easily classify, like graphics, jokes, pictures, and MLMUG ideas. And when I need to find something, I'm always trying to think about which folder, file, or clever name I used for the piece. Help! I'm falling (under the weight of it all), and I can't get up. You might say, "Well, what about Spotlight ?" Have you used it? Sometimes it can find what I need though it is actually cumbersome to have to dig through the documents in the way it sets up; yes it is useful but.... Under the old Apple OS's I loved my notepad and scrapbook applications. I have indeed tried others such as Alepin and iClip (which I highly recommend and is worth downloading.) These are nice for storing but can't do the complete job in this information age. HELP!!!!

I need an application that will allow me to store everything on my physical desk and desktop, as well as the info that I have collected on a daily basis. An app that will give me easy access to all of my files on my computer without having to open and scroll to find each piece of related material. I need an application that can store images, text, movies, music, reports, to-do lists, and mail as well as my various documents AND then with a mouse click, instantly Open, Classify, Gather, and ORGANIZE them all once I begin my search. If I could write one to do all of this, I would call it "Fingertips". Well, they beat me to it with DEVONthink.

Lo and behold, in the December 4, 2005 New York Times, James Fallows wrote an article entitled, "TECHO FILES: Mac Programs That Come With Thinking Caps On." In the article he discusses: "software for storing, retrieving and generally making the best use of information." He discusses the programs available for the Mac which include: DEVONthink, Tinderbox, OmniOutliner Professional, AquaMinds NoteTaker, and CircusPonies Notebook; he mentions the names of a few PC programs as well. (I will add StickyNotes to the list as well.) As far as I know, each of the above programs has download demos available to let you play for a while.

DEVONthink Pro does it all and more! From the publisher: "Make the dream of the paperless office come true with DEVONthink and keep all your text and research materials, scanned documents, notes, e-mails, bookmarks and multimedia files together in one simple to use database." I have had some time to play with the Pro editions; there is also a PersonalEdition ($40), and a lite DevonNotes ($20). The latter two are also available as demos. Devon-Technologies also publishes DevonAgent for mining information on the Internet and is available as a stand alone application or bundled with DEVONthink Pro at a special price.

It is very easy to set up DEVONthink as a free form database into which almost any information can be dragged and dropped. Simple and stunning are how I would describe the retrieval and organizing process. Open the application and create a new database. Up pops the window that is configurable to any number of views that you would like to use; this permits you to see information organized to your own peculiarities. I chose a 2-pane view (from choices such as an icon view, list view, 3-pane window) because it allows me to do what is familiar. My information looks like I chose a view that mimics the finder, or iTunes for that matter. The information files, folders, and links are on on the left pane and when I click the actual file, it opens in the center window. Not just the name but an open document which I can read, highlight, edit, capture and apply services. The 3-pane view is more sophisticated in that when you click on a file in the left pane, it and related files appear in the top: click on any and boom open in the center. A few clicks on the files will allow you to organize and classify them in a similar ways that you would organize a SMART playlist.

Wait; wait; there's more: just about ANY type of file can be dragged into DEVONthink. Appleworks files (added by an action script), RTFs, text, PDFs, MS Word, mp3, jpegs, movies, and multimedia. Wait; wait; there's more: you can drag and drop or import the links and complete web pages are actually stored as well. DEVONthink has Apple's Safari web engine engine built in so that ANYTHING you can see in Safari is available in DEVONthink including news feeds and RSSs, all of which can be set to update on schedule. I can surf the web, find any information, click to import, and now have it stored, organized, and classified. Additionally the DEVONthink dock has a menu that allows you to have access to an instant note taker and capture application (capture from clipboard, html, web, and images) which then can be saved in the left pane info collection and is searchable as well. The application comes with a suite of Applescripts that will automate a great number of tasks including exporting the information to your iPod. MORE: there are two DEVONthink widgets for search and note-taking so the application is always available to you in some form.

Now here's what separates DEVONthink Pro from all of the other applications: Artificial Intelligence (AI) functions. While all of the applications mentioned earlier permit storage and simple search/retrieval functions, DEVONthink Pro takes it further. Simply put in a word or phrase (or search parameter) and a new pane appears with all of the documents that relate to your search parameter: scroll, read, edit, capture, or use services. DEVONthink Pro has it's own services to work on a document for editing, printing, deleting, emailing, and summarizing. The latter function is fabulous! Highlight the text in the document, click on "summarize" and another pane opens with either a sentence-by-sentence or paragraph-by-paragraph summary which is further configurable for lesser or greater complexity. Scroll down the document search window and you will find to buttons "classify" and "see also". "Classify" permits you to further organize the information and add it to existing file links. The AI function of the "see also" button goes further in doing a deep search through all of the stored files and offers suggestions that relate to the search parameters. As an example, I typed "brain" into the search box, and all my documents with that phrase appeared in the top pane. I clicked on one of them, read it, scrolled to the bottom and clicked on the "see also" button. A right hand window slid out (like OSX's "Preview") with other documents, one of which discussed traumatic injury; DEVONthink figured out that this is some how related to my search. This type of search engine permits deep "knowledge mining" for those involved in research and report writing as well as gathering large amounts of information. According to the publisher, DevonAgent will search the web and mine it for information.

If you would like to read an actual user's review, Charles Moore at Apple links, then go to: http://LessLink.com/DTPro_Review/

I rate this as highly as possible: 5 out of 5 stars and 4 thumbs up!

Is it for the rest of us? Probably not, but DEVONthink Personal Edition (PE), $40 with further discounts, most likely is for me. Why? I do not need all but the AI functions. I need to store, search, and retrieve the types of info on my computer and the PE edition does that plus note-taking functions. Or, Devon Note (which is discussed as DEVONthink lite and is only $20 and discounted further) may be for you if your needs are text-based and don't need to store multimedia or web files. I suggest that you go to the site and download the demo of each of the applications, but beware that you need to be running OS 10.3.9 or higher. If not, consider the other applications listed above, such as CircusPonies and Aquaminds. Would I spend the $40 for the PE edition of DEVONthink? Absolutely. I'd put my money where my fingers are--on the keyboard.

Reviewer: David Berg David Berg is a college professor and psychologist. He has been a Mac user since 1937 and a member of MLMUG since 1975. You can join him at PPUG meetings, where he feels right at home at the Manayunk Brewery in Manayunk, PA.

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© 2006 by David Berg & MLMUG
Posted 01/22/06
Updated xx/xx/06