AskSam
askSam, from askSam Systems, was a "free form" database desktop application that competed with a number of other personal information manager (PIM) applications.
It was noted for organizing disparate information such as email messages, documents, text files, spreadsheets, addresses, web pages into dynamic folders, and allowing these to be easily searched, and the results exported to spreadsheets or as a report.{{cite journal
|last1=Pfeifer |first1=Daniel J.
|title=askSam ver 3.0
|journal=Journal of the Association for History and Computing
|date=August 1999 |volume=2 |hdl=2027/spo.3310410.0002.215}}
The last version was askSam 7, released in July 2008.{{cite news|title=New askSam 7 Now Available
|url=http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/Digest/New-askSam-7-Now-Available-50247.asp
|access-date=30 August 2017 |date=11 August 2008}}
History
The Florida company askSam Systems was formed in 1985 and located in Perry, Florida. The earliest versions of askSam were for DOS,{{cite web
|last1=Rose |first1=Daniel |title=DOS - askSam 5.0a
|url=http://www.danielsays.com/ss-gallery-dos-asksam-50a.html
|website=Daniel's Legacy Computer Collections |access-date=30 August 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127064519/http://www.danielsays.com/ss-gallery-dos-asksam-50a.html
|archive-date=27 January 2015 |url-status=dead}} but later versions were for Microsoft Windows. As well as the base desktop version, there were Professional versions{{cite magazine |magazine=eMedia |pages=76–77
|title=AskSam System' askSam 3.0 Professional
|author=Mark Fritz |date=June 1998}} with a more powerful search,{{cite magazine
|last1=Watt |first1=Peggy
|title=First Look: AskSam 6 Offers Database Flexibility
|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/120635/article.html|access-date=30 August 2017 |magazine=PC World
|date=5 May 2005}} and networked versions. A web-publishing option was also available with "askSam Electronic Publisher".{{cite magazine |title=The Searchers
|journal=PC Magazine |date=12 Mar 1996
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rGvyMX6n8cC&dq=asksam+%22windows+nt%22&pg=PA78
|access-date=30 August 2017}}
When 4.0 was released in 2001, so was web publisher package AskSam Web Publisher 4.0, described as "letting you make the database searchable in any browser."{{cite news |newspaper=eWeek
|url=https://www.eweek.com/database/asksam-gets-boost-to-web
|title=AskSam Gets Boost to Web
|date=9 April 2001}}
By 2004, the competitive landscape included "names like ADM, ... BrainStorm, Chandler, Enfish, InfoSelect, iRider, Lookout, Onfolio, TheBrain and Zoot.".{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/business/techno-files-humans-vs-computers-again-but-there-s-help-for-our-side.html
|title=Humans vs. Computers, Again. But There's Help for Our Side
|author=James Fallows
|author-link=James Fallows
|date=18 April 2004}} Asksam was ahead of its time in many ways, and today applications like Roam Research, Craft.do, Logseq, and Obsidian are beginning to fill the ability Asksam had for hyperlinked rapid note retrieval, though still unmatched for reporting.{{Cite web |date=2022-05-05 |title=Meet Logseq, an open-source knowledge management system that 'stores data like a brain' |url=https://venturebeat.com/dev/meet-logseq-an-open-source-knowledge-management-system-that-stores-data-like-a-brain/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}
In 2014 personal information manager MyInfo added support for importing text-delimited AskSam files.{{cite web|url=https://www.myinfoapp.com/uses/asksam|title=AskSam Alternative for Windows|date=2021-10-23|access-date=2021-10-23}}