Perplexity
A search tool that answers in prose and cites the pages it read
Ask a question and it answers in prose, with numbered citations, rather than a page of links to open yourself. A live search runs underneath, so current questions land better than they do with a plain chat assistant. The basic level is free. Summaries can still misread the page they point at.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
AI researcher · Lex Fridman Podcast
He is a keyboard person, and the shortcut he points to is Ctrl-I, which opens a new thread and, he says, speeds him up a lot. He also calls the decision to show that shortcut in the desktop interface a gutsy one. Perplexity sponsors his show.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast: Aravind Srinivas transcript- Seth GodinDoes it
Author · Seth's Blog, published daily
Searches with Perplexity almost exclusively, and says he has nearly stopped using a conventional search engine. The writing stays his own, he is firm about that, whatever he uses to think alongside.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #792 transcript“And I use Perplexity exclusively. I almost never do a search with a search engine. Every word I publish, I wrote.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #792 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 31 Jan 2025
Aimed at the same thing
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Readwise
Syncs your highlights and resurfaces them a few at a time
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Website and app blocker
Software that makes distracting sites genuinely unavailable on a schedule
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DEVONthink
DEVONtechnologies
Document and information manager for Mac and iOS with local, indexed databases
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
App entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.