With all the tools that Tony Buzan developed for his mind mapping training, tools that included books, conferences and workshops, the only surprise involved in his producing a software tool was that he wasn’t the first to do so. This was probably because he was more involved in teaching his methods themselves than in creating computer programs. And he did endorse a few programs as other people developed them over the years. But in the end, he really did need his own mind mapping tool to extend his particular techniques into the software realm and make them available to the masses.
When a software developer named Chris Griffiths wanted to create this mind mapping tool, Buzan was very happy to work with him. Griffiths, like Buzan, hoped to see computer technologies help to improve people’s thinking rather than diminish it. So he developed a program that would reproduce on the computer screen the same sort of visual map of concepts and words that had previously been created on sheets of paper. Finally, in 2006, the initial version of the “iMindMap” software was released.
Early reviews of the program were positive. What most people remarked upon was the “organic” nature of this mind mapping tool. It really seemed to leave behind the boxes and straight lines of other programs, and reproduced the flow and even colors people used when creating their own mind maps on whiteboards or note paper. Command buttons were clear, tabs allowed users to switch to editor, presentation and the more traditional outline views, and a drop-and-drag method of creating new branches from a central topic seemed to mimic the method of making a visual map by hand drawing.
Now there’s a third beta version of “iMindMap,” which has addressed some business people’s concern that its visual mapping aspects were a bit too colorful and free flowing to work well in a business context. If they wish to switch to a mode that more closely represents the traditional flow chart style, they can now do so. This mind mapping tool continues to be refined by adding and enhancing the options people have. It can now be used in a wider range of situations, making it a very powerful instrument in people’s intellectual arsenal.
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