It seems like browser bookmarks haven’t moved forward since, exactly, because bookmarks have become a thing in browsers. A big part of the reason why people have so many browser tabs open is that bookmarks are an inefficient way to store things that we want to get back on the Internet.
Then the next day I came up with something that gave bookmarks a boost in performance and usability that I have been waiting for all these years.
Enter the braintool.
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Braintool is a Google Chrome plugin that combines bookmarking with note taking and will add a sprinkling of new to you to store web links for future reference.
At the base of the tool is a side panel, which is essentially a list of studs, with links below each that you choose to save, along with some text. The side panel allows you to move, edit, open, and delete entries, and it allows you to quickly create places to visit on the web – and a repository you want to visit again.
All data is stored on your Google Drive (requires a Google Account), and data is not sent elsewhere.
It’s all between you and your Google Drive.
The file, which is stored in plain text on your Google Drive, can be independently edited, backed up or shared if you wish. This is a nice touch. In an age where everything relies on third-party servers, it’s great that this project prefers to have everything as part of your Google Account.
I have to be honest, for a project that looks new (the number of versions in the extension is 0.5.1), this is really pretty cool. Like anything, it gets in the habit of using little (partly because we just open a lot of tabs and wonder why everything seems so slow), but it’s pretty cool, very fresh, taking into account bookmarks. There are also videos that guide you through Braintool, and I recommend that you watch them because it’s faster to learn than to mess around (like I did).
I really like Braintool. A rather simple interface may not be for everyone, but there is a lot of power behind that simplicity.
