what's this all about?
I have an obsession with new tools that work well. Once you've grabbed my attention, I'm hooked and I'm good to go. In some situations this is is a good thing, such as starting this blog.
One would think, after trying to write online for so many years, that the last thing I would do is start another writing venture. But in actual fact, Bear fits nicely in my writing workflow.
A lot of my post ideas comes from rambles I write on Word Documents. These range from 1000 to 3000+ words at times, depending on the topic. They are only seen by me, but I often take ideas I've written in them and use it to write online.
Bear allows me to share those raw thoughts without thinking too much about how it's presented online. The basic editor format works really well for me, and I've been craving a system that's simple and does the job. Something that the tech industry doesn't seem the value nowadays.
So many software products are built to "add more". More features, more functionality, more "things". It's tiring. Substack recently announced it's pivot to include video content, and whilst I'm not letting it stop me write there, it's not nice knowing that another writing platform is trying to compete with other mediums.
I'm a writer. My main mode of consumption is writing. I'll watch videos sometimes, but I am definitely not a sole video consumer. I've always understood things better in written form. There's a reason textbooks are still the foundational way to learn in academia.
Going back to the main point. The rush to include more at the expense of those who desire less is draining. The competition between the big social media platforms to capitalise on short form videos is long. It's high time a new set of software comes in that does what it says on the tin, no fancy schmancy stuff.
That's why I like Bear.
I have a much bigger gravitation towards blogs like this, where people just share their thoughts, no heavy editing needed. It's hard to do stuff like this on traditional blogs where the supposed need to cater to SEO is high. Not to mention having to include images in every post.
Whilst I appreciate the importance of images in a blogpost, I prefer to write my thoughts and let that speak for itself. I don't want to feel like I have to add more because my writing isn't enough. It is. I know it is.
That's sorta the vibe I get when software companies keep adding features. Isn't what you're already doing, enough? The rush for infinite growth in a finite field is not worth it, at all. Especially when you alienate your users in the process.
This was a bit of a ramble, but my main point is, Bear is great. We need more software that does what it says, without having to be fluffy. And I was convinced solely by seeing it work in action. No need for a sales pitch, good software stands strong on it's own.
I personally believe, the more marketing you need to sell something, the worse the product is. That's my hot take. Which I'll probably write more about later on.
Expect to here more from me here. This is really fun, and I enjoyed writing this post, lol.
Credits to Herman for Bear. It's so good.