Bibliographic Software Rant

Today I spent 30 minutes or so downloading IdeaMason 3, which some people on the blogosphere have been getting very excited about. And compared to most pieces of software, it's fairly slick and does most of what you want. But not all. And that's the crucial thing. All these producs ultimately suck because of one or two fatal flaws.
IdeaMason - apart from the name, you can't import files from Web of Science, etc. or define your own types according to recognized standards (eg. EAD for archives).

Endnote - vast numbers of irritating little flaws and bugs, no real notetaking abilities, difficult to sort. And exensive.
Biblioscape - has it all,but no Z39-whatever connection, just 'screen scrapping', and it looks painful and is dreadfully buggy.
Papyrus - near perfect - for 1992. Doesn't play well or at all with XP, let alone Word 2007
Word 2007. Citation tool - this is more like it. But how to organize your notes (MS desktop search and the improved metadata 'ribbon' look like one solution), and - fatally - no Chicago footnote support. And nigh on impossible to amend the default formats. Roll on version 2.0
Others - NotaBene. Expensive, and like others in this category, you're pretty much dependent on having your pc or laptop with you.

What is needed/signs of hope.

1) Access anywhere. Work, home, library, book shop. Endnote Web looks promising, and nice that it's 'free' for those with a Web of Science subscription. [n.b., seems to have some problems with firewalls]
2) Run from flash drive. See (1). Biblioscape 7.0 promises this.
3) Google Scholar. They must have some bibliographic control in there; ditto google books (and their download .pdfs are wonderful - or at least will be). So, all that's needed is some way of harvesting the output reliably. Endnote seems to do this tolerably. Great for those without a subscription to journals.
4) Word 2007. Bad news for the little guys, but at least Microsoft have made a start - and it's a good one.
5) Adobe 8.0 (beta). Finally makes pdfs seem usable and almost easier than paper or even a codex for information (if not prolonged reading).
6) Google Notebook. Simple, free and does what it needs to, mostly. Is there a Google Cite in a lab somewhere?

Until then?

1) for those with good handwriting and access to a cheap stationers, index cards are hard to beat.
2) USB flash drives/ google docs/ gmail/ thinkanywhere - get your stuff wherever you are.
3) MS Word. It's still the standard - at least until openoffice gets it's file size and loading times under control. Make use of the keywords, files things properly and use desktop search (be it google, copernic, or ms). MS Outlook, if you've got a tablet PC.
4) Outlook/Palm todo lists. And keep it simple, with 'places' categories. Forget about prioritizing, and stick it in your calendar if it's time bound. Moleskines for those with neat handwriting and damp climates.
5) Tinderbox, for those with money and a Mac. For the rest of us, Muji pens and paper.
7) Avoid trying out software. It just clogs up your PC and wastes time. A bit like this blog...

UPDATE (Feb 2007)

Clearly I've ignored my own advice, esp. (7):

Still trying to get Endnote Web to work within my office firewall (integration with Word, that is). No joy so far, but the help team at Thompson have been, well, very helpful.

A couple of other pieces of software worth looking at:

1. Good Sync - a bit like Windows 95's weird briefcase feature, except this one keeps flash/usb drives (or whatever) in sync with desktop (or whatever). Free and effective, with most of the options you'll need.
2. JabRef 2.2 - open source Java-based bibliographic software. Especially useful if you have any idea what the hell LaTex is all about. (it's a nice front end for BibTex)