In software, "new" all too often means "complicated." New tools often tempt us with futuristic features and promises of improved productivity, but learning to use them can be a confusing experience, not to mention the time lost while trying to get up to speed. So when I see a tool that is truly new, but also manages to be simpler and more streamlined than the current alternatives, I am truly impressed. HackPad is one such tool: A new breed of Wiki that shows how much simpler and fluid wikis can be.

HackPad can do this because it doesn't have to worry about collisions between multiple users editing the same page simultaneously and then saving and overwriting each other's work. In fact, there is no Save button: All edits are done in real-time, and other users viewing the page can see what you're typing as you're typing it. This feature made it easy to use for collaborative note-taking in SXSW.

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HackPad is still in its infancy, and it is not perfect. The most important feature missing is revision history: Individual users can undo their immediate edits (Ctrl+Z), but you can't roll a page back in time to a previous state. This is interesting, because HackPad is partially based on open-source editor Etherpad (acquired by Google in December 2009), a collaborative text editor that has an excellent timeline feature for managing revision history.

HackPad includes easy to use privacy controls: You can set a page to be public, open only to people who have its link (like the mode Google offers for sharing Picasa albums), or open only to people you've explicitly invited.

HackPad does not yet offer commercial plans, but its free offering is full-featured, and feels amazingly fun and simple to use. If you've ever felt frustrated and limited by your current collaboration tools, take HackPad for a ten-minute spin. Careful: It's addictive.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can use this Web-based software.

--Erez Zukerman