Mapping with The Brain

Every once in a while something comes along and makes you say, “Cooool…”

Personal Brain is just such a product.  Touted as an information management tool, it is essentially mindmapping – its graphic interface and ability to “re-center” is pretty slick.  What is “re-centering”?

Typical mindmaps start with one idea in the middle and the ideas branch off.  This starts the same way but then with a click, any one of your satellites can become your new center.  I could see this really helping for brainstormings.

What is also cool is they have created a web presence for folks to upload their “brains” to the web.  There is some pretty cool information there.

If there is a downside for this software it’s that when there’s a lot of information the interface can look pretty daunting and somewhat crowded; the flip side is that it highlights the complexity of the connections between information.

How much does this software cost?

The basic version is Zip, Zero, Nada, Nichoho.

You can download it and use the Pro version for 30 days after which it defaults down to the free version which I think would be adequate for most users.  The higher end versions are geared towards more intense information management and lend themselves well to a corporate environment.  I could see this being used for managing a product/problem portfolio on a network level.

Their website is also chock-full of educational info like this webinar on using the tool for presentation purposes.

All in all, a really cool product and one that I’ll be utilizing for sure.