Obsidian is a tool like no other: a "second brain" that you have complete ownership over. Being able to link together knowledge or concepts across contexts is a superpower. A recent example: the AlphaTensor paper comes out with a new approach to optimizing matrix multiplication algorithms: as I jot down some thoughts, can I seamlessly refresh my memory on every paper or talk or offhand ML finding I've come across on "matrix multiplication", "deep RL", "Strassen’s algorithm", etc.?
I use it for every aspect of knowledge management, building a personal wiki, personal logging and writing, task tracking, reading notes, academic paper notes+metadata, planning, and more. Other tools offer similar features, but they all seem to have tradeoffs on data ownership or offline support or lack of extensibility or non-standard text format (i.e. not markdown). I wrote last year in another HN post that it's remarkable that the Obsidian team has delivered a superior product in a _very_ crowded note-taking / PKM space, and 18 months later it remains the single tool that I couldn't imagine abandoning.
I use it for every aspect of knowledge management, building a personal wiki, personal logging and writing, task tracking, reading notes, academic paper notes+metadata, planning, and more. Other tools offer similar features, but they all seem to have tradeoffs on data ownership or offline support or lack of extensibility or non-standard text format (i.e. not markdown). I wrote last year in another HN post that it's remarkable that the Obsidian team has delivered a superior product in a _very_ crowded note-taking / PKM space, and 18 months later it remains the single tool that I couldn't imagine abandoning.