Why you should stop using evernote, apple notes, or google notes for PKM - Knowledge Management

STOP Using your built in Note APP

The point I want to make today is that you shouldn't be using Google Keep or Apple Notes. They are primitive options for organizing your information, and they lack any sophisticated tools or extensibility to help you use that data.

There's a famous image that goes around that I want to mention here:

This Meme Perfectly Illustrates the Road to Mastery

Even novice notetakers should find this meme funny, but also heed its warnings & learn it’s lessons.

MediumMaddox

The point is that you start off with a primitive system, and then over complicate things with Notion or Obsidian, and then you find inner peace with a simplified tool. However I think that this is illogical, and while its a fun meme it isn't quite the reality. Especially now in a world of AI. Regardless of how you feel about AI, you can do so much with local AI agents with MCP/RAG with your note taking vault folder.

Even if you want to run everything locally, so that you don't use data centers, there are so many things you can do. This is the first stepping stone towards making your own JARVIS anyways.

What's MY beef?

I mean I used Google Keep for a bit when in a pinch, this was before I had obsidian sync, and after notion. Meaning I had no other choice when it came to the situation. However now I see no point in using the generic apps.

Just because they come with your phone does not mean they are useful. Being able to access your notes in a variety of ways is way more important.

My feelings against the basic note takers

The HINDER you, they keep you from reaching a greater level, all while making you think you are being productive. However the mess of notes everywhere keeps you from finding what you need when you need it. It keeps from notes being discoverable in random times too, such as when you are writing or referencing something.

It is locked to just a simple text format, whereas with other tools you can do voice, journals, databases, and more.

Why I think Obsidian is the BEST

A lot of people think of it as just a "notetaker", it is not, and while yes it is in the most basic sense. The true benefit of Obsidian is the fact that you can turn it into whatever you want. Over the years there have been mountains of plugins that have cropped up, and adding features that people wanted.

• You want to embed a pomodoro timer? Good, there's a couple dozen plugins for that. Some small, some big, others in various forms.
• You want to do project or task management? At varying degrees of complexity? There's countless plugins to choose from.
• You want to write a long book? This is one of the few apps that can handle a large range of text.
• You want to manage a DND campaign, or keep track of a complex video game development? Great, you can do that. With characters and locations linked together.
• You want to embed AI into your vault to interact with it, or have it sort your files? Great.
• You don't want AI directly IN your vault, but can access it via MCP for specific uses cases? Go right ahead.

I could go on.

What I keep hearing in my head is someone's retort "oh I don't want to have to rely on plugins, or have to scroll around for ages to find them". Well you really don't, there are a couple options, use a community plugin marketplace plugin to improve the experience. Such as "favorites" for example, or better yet do what I do and use:

Explore & Discover Obsidian Plugins and Themes

Find the best Obsidian plugins and themes for your workflow. Rate and review plugins, read weekly updates and posts, track your favorites and personalize your Obsidian setup.

Obsidian Stats

Which puts plugins into various ways of being sorted. Finding things becomes pretty quick. I even went through the entire list.

Just go give Obsidian a try, and try again.