We’re delighted to announce that Tinderbox by Eastgate Systems is our Partner of the Month for October!
Tinderbox is one of the most remarkable tools ever created for thinking on the Mac. It’s designed for people who work with ideas — writers, researchers, professors, designers, and anyone who develops complex projects or knowledge frameworks. Tinderbox helps you see your thoughts evolve. You can take notes, organize them visually, map connections, and watch ideas take shape as your understanding deepens.
Why We Love Tinderbox
At CogSci Apps, we’ve long admired the craftsmanship, longevity, and vision behind Tinderbox. Developed by Eastgate Systems under the direction of Mark Bernstein, Tinderbox has been evolving for more than two decades. Like Hookmark, it’s built on a deep understanding of how people think and create — not on passing trends.
Tinderbox doesn’t force you into a rigid workflow. Instead, it grows with you. You can start with a single note and gradually build an interconnected knowledge base — a living network of your ideas. That philosophy resonates perfectly with Hookmark’s mission: to make your digital knowledge interconnected and instantly accessible.
Visual Thinking at Its Best
Tinderbox stands out for its visual intelligence. Its maps, outlines, and timelines let you view information from multiple perspectives — spatial, structural, and chronological. You can drag notes around, cluster them, link them, and instantly see the patterns that underlie your thinking.
This visual expressiveness makes Tinderbox an ideal partner for Hookmark. When you link a Tinderbox note to documents, webpages, and emails through Hookmark, those external resources become part of your visual landscape of thought. You’re not just linking information — you’re literally seeing how your ideas connect.
Now with AI in Tinderbox 11
We’ve long been skeptical of Large Language Models. AIs can be lazy, sycophantic, and wrong. Yet they can do things of which we have dreamt.
The latest version, Tinderbox 11, introduces AI integration that deepens its analytical power. You can now use built-in AI features to summarize, classify, or generate ideas directly within Tinderbox. This means your notes aren’t static — they interact with your prompts and evolve as your understanding grows.
Hookmark complements this beautifully: while Tinderbox’s AI helps you explore ideas within your project, Hookmark keeps you connected to everything beyond it — research papers, reference materials, and digital context from across your Mac.
Linking Hookmark and Tinderbox
The integration between Hookmark and Tinderbox unlocks a new level of creative flow. With Hookmark, you can:
- Instantly link Tinderbox notes to research papers, emails, PDFs, webpages, or any other file on your Mac.
- Return to those linked items with a single click, directly from Tinderbox.
- Use “Hook to New” to create a new Tinderbox note that’s automatically linked to your current item — perfect for capturing insights and ideas while you work elsewhere.
This two-way linking turns Tinderbox into a true hub of contextual knowledge. It helps you navigate not just within Tinderbox, but across all your apps. That’s what we call ubiquitous linking — a seamless way to connect ideas and information wherever they live.
Celebrate With 25% Off
To celebrate our partnership, TINDERBOX is offering 25% off Tinderbox for the month with this coupon LinkEverywhere
Whether you’re a long-time Tinderbox user or just discovering it, now’s a great time to experience how Hookmark complements it — helping you organize, connect, and return to your ideas faster than ever.