Personal knowledge management apps are unnecessary because they focus on the wrong aspect of knowledge management. Knowledge management is more than just taking and storing notes; it is about making sense of the information and turning it into useful knowledge. Personal knowledge management tools are often limited to note-taking and do not provide the tools needed to make sense of the data and put it to use.
The concept of Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is flawed in that it fails to recognize that there is more to knowledge management than simply collecting, storing, and organizing data. Rather, knowledge management is a process of transforming data into information and then into knowledge through the application of cognitive processes. To be effective, knowledge management requires an understanding of the context in which the data is generated, as well as the ability to apply this knowledge to the situation in hand. PKM tools are limited in their ability to provide the necessary cognitive processes and other tools required for effective knowledge management, making them largely unnecessary.
