There Can Only Be One!!! Rules of Engagement for the Mindmap Shootout

After an unexpected hiatus, I am ready to begin the comparison of Mindmapping software. This is how it is going to work. As you might have noticed from my list of software packages, a post covering all of the online mappers would read like the first 200 pages of War and Peace , where all the characters are introduced.

To avoid the War and Peace Syndrome, I will introduce a few mappers per post, showing how they measure up to the evaluation criteria. Once we have seen all of the contenders by themselves, we will compare them head-to-head for each criterion and determine the Best of Class. Then we will do something similar for the other two classes. After all of that is finished, we will determine which of the Best of Class mappers is the Best of Show. The Best of Show will be considered the best of all Mind Mappers, according to my totally unscientific, subjective criteria, and excluding the windows-based and Linux-based packages.

I will introduce the first set of contestants around the middle of the coming week, and continue at a pace of one to two sets of Mindmappers per week until we finish. I figure that we will finish just in time for you to obtain the Best of Show mapper for a loved one for either Christmas or Chanukah, as the case may be.

There is a very good reason for stretching the competition out the way I am. Sensory overload. I don't want to present a few really long posts, with too much info to really absorb. I don't want you to get overloaded and tired of it. For that matter, I don't want me to get overloaded and tired of the competition. Instead I want you to look forward to it, like American Idol , or Lost !

I have another reason for stretching the competition out. The Technology Landscape I see all around us right now is seething with activity. There are so many exciting things happening and so many cool products coming out, that I want to discuss them, and get your feedback on them. Despite the financial turmoil the world is in, these are exciting times for the technology sector. So, expect to see posts about other things tucked in between the competition posts.