You all know that I’m a huge proponent of mind mapping. Once I got the hang of it I couldn’t imagine trying to organize my thoughts any other way.
Books, presentations, projects, websites pretty much anything where I need to take the massive gaggle of thoughts that is my brain into a cohesive whole, I mind map.
You also know that my primary tool for mind mapping has been MindJet’s MindManager. One of the key features for me has been the ability to export mind maps to a Word outline or PowerPoint presentation. Being able to go from a mind map to something that more people “get” was absolutely critical to using mind maps for work (not to mention writing books).
When I switched to a Mac last November, I switched over to MindManager Mac. I frankly wasn’t impressed. The Mac client was seriously lacking in key features, namely Word-Powerpoint export.
Last night checking my feeds and saw the review of MindView Pro 3.0 for the Mac on a couple blogs I follow–MindView 3.0 Comes of Age – TheAppleBlog – WebWorkerDaily » Archive MindView 3: Wrap Your Head Around Anything Via Mind Maps «.
Reading these posts, especially Matthew’s Mac one, I saw something that made my eyes light up:
Yeah you see it, export to Word. Yeah baby. this is what I’ve been needing. I downloaded and installed it right away. I haven’t given it much of a test drive, but yeah it’s looking good.
Drawbacks? Like Matthew notes: price and lack of ability to import from other programs.
So is there a negative? I would have to say the price. MindView 3 retails at $279, which is not cheap. Other competitors in the space are also not inexpensive, with prices ranging from $129-199. Regardless, you do pay a premium for MindView 3. Thankfully, the folks at Matchware have educational and volume pricing. So, if you are a student or you need more than five licenses, you can get a reasonable deal.
As an aside, I find that one major annoyance with the software vendors in the mind map space is that they do not import/export their competitors file formats. Thus, you better be prepared to export it to text and/or OPML (an outline format). Of course, if you are happy with your existing mind mapping tool, then this might not be an issue.
Okay the price tag is a little intense too.
Let’s see how it goes…
Tris Hussey is a writer, teacher, blogger, and speaker on all facets of Internet life, WordPress, and social media. If you are interested in having Tris speak, teach, lead a workshop or consult for you, feel free to email tris [at] trishussey [dot] com.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the mention! I think Matcheare might have competitive crossgrade pricing too.
YW. That would be a great promotion. Hmm…