Yojimbo Reviews.

I can’t stop researching the subject of Yojimbo as a new means of collecting and organizing information. For those 3 other geeks who have been Googlin’ Yojimbo-related arcania, here is a list of relevant links about Yojimbo, its feature set, interface, and functionality and whether it’s a Mover app, a Replicant, or a Dud:
John Gruber: Mover.
Nat Irons: Mover.
Macworld News: Unknown, but forum visitors say: Mixed.
Various Hog Bay forum folks (many, if not most, of whom unsurprisngly prefer Hog Bay’s Mori, which has real “Smart” folders that assign categories intelligently based on your keywording and which I like a whole lot as do others, in part because the developer runs an active user community site): Mixed.
O’Reilly Mac DevCenter’s Blog: Replicant. But, interestingly, Yojimbo uses a SQLite database to store its information, which I understand is actually better than StickyBrain’s Openbase database.
MacUser’s Derik DeLong: Mover.
VersionTracker’s forum: Mixed.
For those who don’t like to click on links for some reason, here is a brief summary of information about the application that I’ve found are relevant to my workflow and the question of shelling out for Yojimbo:

  • .Mac sync is a huge value add; Yojimbo is the only application of its kind that truly integrates with .Mac syncing
  • Drop Dock tab is very useful for getting information in quickly
  • Pop-up data entry is very useful for getting information in quickly
  • Creates embedded webpage archives
  • Does fast encryption (but I question its simplicity)
  • Overall ease of use (DevonThink and StickyBrain are too complicated to learn and maintain)
  • It’s smart folders aren’t that smart; they can’t “read” data on the fly
  • Search functionality is good but it only works upon hitting the “Return” key, a very un-Mac feature; additionally, is Spotlight searchable
  • Does not do hierarchical lists
  • Is stable
  • Is overpriced at a $39.95 introductory price