a review by Tom Piper
As I acquire more information and get more involved in this busy world, I need more tools to keep track of my diverse activities. Topical folders and specialized titling have long been my organizational technique, but the volume and scope of my data has exceeded my ability to keep everything straight. In a word, I need help!
A new program from Gravity Applications called Tags had provided me with an innovative way to get back in control of my computer’s contents. This company points out that every day we deal with thousands of documents, emails, photos, contacts, videos, web links and others. The rigid file/folder structure on a computer, designed to mimic the real world physical equivalent, is no longer efficient. While specific applications exist to manage, sort, find and consume specific file types such as iTunes for music, iPhoto for photos, Mail for emails, and Safari for the web, what has been lacking is a comprehensive way to associate different types of files to one another in an intuitive way, without creating duplicates.
Tagging is a superior way to associate files to one another by using keywords, rather than rigid folders. You can tag files and folders in the finder, emails in Mail, photos in iPhoto, bookmarks in Safari and much more, directly from within the application. Files of different types can be associated to one another with ease and without creating duplicates. Just imagine always finding all the files you need instantaneously, and finally being well-organized again!
The concept is simple . . . just assign a keyword(s) to any file that will be used later to gather associated information. The assignment technique is simple, from within the document you are working on, just press control-spacebar (or whatever you assign) to bring up a “tag box”, type in your keyword (or select it from favorites or recently used, and close the box (click the circle-x in upper left corner). If the file(s) has already been created, then go to the desktop, press control-spacebar, then drag-and-drop your selected file(s) into the tag box, and assign a keyword. You can do this with folders as well as pictures in iPhoto, songs in iTunes, messages in Mail, and others.
Retrieval of associated (by keyword) items is done by simply pressing option-spacebar, which pops up the Search box, then enter the keyword for which you want to review files, and, presto, they all appear in a neat vertical drop-down list. This is as easy (and powerful) as using Spotlight (command-spacebar) with the added benefit of having an associated topic.
You can get more information from http://www.gravityapps.com/ and buy a Single License (one machine) for $29, or a Family License (up to 4 machines in a single household) for $49. This is a terrific concept that has empowered a new level of organization for me. Do you need a better tool to control your computer information?
Comments