It’s one of those applications that will be used by the geeky sort, those who don’t mind a stark exterior with a pretty complicated interface. Tobu is also different because as it describes itself, it is a “freeform information organizer”, and that pretty much holds up. You can use it for task lists, notes, thoughts, ideas, project planning, anything you like, but it will take some time to think it through and apply it.

The basics of it is that you create notes, with a name, a tag and a description. You can then simply list your notes by tag, or tag combination. That’s really all to it, but underneath this simple method lies a pretty complicated system. Tags are the main way of navigating, just enter one or more and items will pop out quickly. You can also see the relation each item has to other tags for cross reference.

What I love about Tobu is that it really lets you do anything. Tag all your tasks with “task” (how original), and when you list items in that tag you will get your task list. You can also use “today”, “tomorrow” and other tags to designate time frames and schedules. Tag all your notes with “note” (I’m really something aren’t I?) and you can list all of them, seeing all the other tags applied, or list ones in the “notes” and “blog” section for notes about your blog.

The power of Tobu, and all other application like it is that they only provide the framework, while you provide the method. This makes these applications the most flexible out there, but you need the best possible composure to use them effectively. If consistency is your cup of tea however, you will love Tobu.