This blog post says nothing about why Roam is actually cool. It seems like a waste of opportunity, given that it has reached the front page and it's not really telling anyone why they should use it.<p>I have seen people praise Roam because of different features. Some say the ability to link concepts bidirectionally allows them to create the wiki they always wish they had, only now they can look at every single context where a topic has been mentioned. Others love the ability to use logic constructs to query chunks of text depending on their tags and content. For me personally, it's the ability to reference any fragment of the text so that it lives in multiple places at the same time. Hence, I can reuse ideas in different contexts. Alternatively, if I'm looking at a specific idea, I can tell where it's being drawn upon.<p>I have been using Roam every day for the last 2 months, and it has completely changed my note-taking habits. I have always strived to digitize all my thoughts, but for me, it never felt like I was fully engaged with my note-taking, Roam changed that. Because the main view is a daily page, it invites you to pour everything right there, relieving you of the duty of having to think if something's well placed under a hierarchy of folders. If you link your thoughts, then your thoughts will not get lost.<p>A cult is a cult when the members can't shut up about the cult and Roam is making a lot of noise right now.
As an alternative Emacs org-mode based bidirectional linking enabled note-taking workflow, check out org-roam [1].<p>1: <a href="https://github.com/jethrokuan/org-roam" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/jethrokuan/org-roam</a>
This is yet another example of a case where no matter how many people are working on a problem or have worked on it, that there's still room for improvements which create an explosion of a positive response.<p>I can't believe that nobody has thought to build an application with bio-directional block linking like this. Every app I have used with links can link to a page. Fewer apps can link to a specific page. None of these give you much "at a glance" insight about what the thing is linking to without clicking the link.<p>I have thought about this and I have tried to build it, but I haven't had the time. Clearly time isn't an issue for the note building world though. Not taking apps are a dime a dozen. That's not to say that my app would have been Roam. I just wanted the functionality Roam brings to the table. I know I'm not alone from all the praise Roam gets. I'm just glad I didn't have to build the thing.
I really like the referencing and transclusion features of Roam. Being able to reference any fragment of text anywhere else, <i>and</i> edit them them in-place with all changes propagated to every other reference... it's the defining feature that I'm willing to pay for once it monetizes.
Fully free and open source note-taking app with a similar focus: <a href="https://zettlr.com" rel="nofollow">https://zettlr.com</a>
The thing I really like about Roam is there is a new daily note created automatically every day.<p>It’s simple, but lessens friction and I can jot anything down without having to think about organization.
Note: the article is a premium members-only post preview and cuts off just after getting into a competitor's valuation.<p>You can't read the whole thing and I regret starting to read it, only to be left mid-thought.