Why is Ecco so helpful ?
 
 
I think it starts with the roots of information lists.
 
Basically,  there are three approaches to making lists of information:
 
Alphabetical Lists,  like a dictionary.   The modern equivalent is the key word search.   Ie.  with key word searches  even if the information is stored randomly,  you can accesses the information as if it were stored alphabetically,  and jump to the desired alphabetical location in the list.
 
Linked lists.  This is something relatively new.   Mind maps are an example of linked lists.   Wikis are another example.   Information linked to other information  either on paper via visual connection (links, common colors, etc.),  or by links that connect the information on web pages, wikis, etc.       Linked lists can be combined with any other information structure (just as keyword searches allows any data collection to be accessed as if it were an alphabetical list.    So,  an alphabetical list can also contain data linked to other data.   'Webs' of knowledge can thus be created.
 
Hierarchical Lists.  This is the classic 'Outline' structure.  Here,  we are 'forced' to determine which set of information is a sub-set of other information,  and,  to determine where one part of information is distinct from another.   This leads to 'sibling' and 'children' entries in the outline.
 
 
The beauty of of Hierarchical lists is that they both force us to classify and differentiate the information we outline while converting the information into natural 'chunks'  that make mental grasping & manipulation of the information much easier.
 
Over the past four hundred years or so,  effective visual techniques for hierarchical lists have developed.  Indention levels for sub items,  and beginning each item/sub item with a numeric/alpha-numeric counter.  The distinct dissonance between the sequential count of parent elements with the the start of a new numeric series (and especially with a different type of numeric symbol) for each child,  helps our minds make instant sense of our outlines visually.
 
 
Perhaps something not so 'high tech',  but Ecco's ability to easily flow indention levels and visual outline numbering is incredibly helpful in breaking down and managing our information.  Surprisingly, there are not many visual outliners available anymore,  but those that are,  sure are nice to work with.
 
Ecco adds the ability to track specific attributes (folder values) for each 'item' of information, and to further cluster and filter the information based on those attributes,  so that it can be reviewed together with similar information.   In essence,  we can have one 'glob' of information (listed hierarchically) and pull different lists from it, based on desired attributes.