"Making simple software and charging heaps because we are hip and edgy..."
Every time I see things such as these I think: 20-something, doesn't understand money ($20/month seems "too much"), doesn't understand business, not much sense of humor either, mostly pissed about other being succesful...
The kind of people who write M$ with a dollar sign.
That's the line that threw me off too. "Hip and edgy" is an amateur-hour schoolyard taunt. "Making simple software and charging heaps" would have been enough and kind of funny.
And the meanness made me overlook the funny bits like the subheader about less and more, and some of the sections, the quote by Ghandi, and the completely gratuitous "Happy Wednesday" way up in the corner that changes, depending on the day (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19865106/how-does-37signa...).
I think it is suggesting that 37signals' software can be easily replaced by free alternatives (look at the links): google (gmail/calendar, etc.) accounts, skype, yammer, trello.
Based on the date the link was submitted to reddit was done around the same time as the Curebit fiasco. I like 37Signals but admittedly they did behave like arrogant aholes during it. Not something I'd expect from such well respected members of the tech community. The bit where DHH tweets their investors is what does it for me.
Yeah, and it bashes them for not having big-money VCs and having to bootstrap and thus having to be more frugal and charge more. In my mind that makes 37signals more "independent" than companies with big-money VC backers.
Why are you bragging about making a bunch of uninformed, knee-jerk assumptions about someone you know nothing about? And why is this trash the top comment? Whether or not $20/month is too much does not depend on whether you have $20 to spend or not, it depends on the value you get from that $20. Products with very little value, and which have $0 alternatives that provide more value are not worth $20.
If your company has the stance of being opinionated and you have at least 3 instances of people investing the time to create an attempt at satire about you... you must have done _something_ right!
That's not funny or educational or even interesting. It looks like jealousy or unfounded hate. I can't really think of anything 37signals has done to warrant this. They make good products and treat both their employees and customers well. Am I missing something?
Yes. If you went to high school, you may recall a certain type of person: They'd pick someone else, anyone else, and make fun of them for no reason other than to elevate themselves as an arbiter of taste.
"Ewww, reg is wearing a bow tie. What a fashion disaster!"
I used Basecamp a few years back. It was neither horrible nor great in my opinion.
But, I don't think the software needs to be bad or they need to mistreat people to be parodied. If you can capture an element of something, then exaggerate it into absurdity. it's parody.
Also not so sure about attributing jealousy or hate as the motive here. I mean, it could be, but I just don't know what's on the author's mind (except that he/she clearly believes some things about the company to be absurd).
But, it does strike me that the only things worth parodying, for the most part, are those that either succeed or that fail in some very public or fantastic way.
>That's not funny or educational or even interesting.
Two of those are subjective and I'll ignore. But it is educational, it links to alternatives to 37 signals products.
>I can't really think of anything 37signals has done to warrant this
The company and its reputation was built on aggressively bad-mouthing and trash-talking anyone and everyone they could. Remember when rails started out? Anyone who dared to like something other than their framework was an idiot (at best).
"The company is named after the 37 radio telescope signals identified by astronomer Paul Horowitz as potential messages from extraterrestrial intelligence."
ever have trouble recalling or typing either of those two?
basically they're branding two digits + a common word. why not.
Personally, I prefer to brand things that make slightly more sense, but to each their own. it works just as well as branding an "io" at the end of something.
it's just about repeating it a few times, until it can be recalled, and once it can it's quick to get to.
Speaking of 37signals. I am looking for a good PM and CRM software. Either a piece of software that does both, or two separate that integrate nicely. Any suggestions?
We are a Web company that handles projects including Web, Film, Photography and design.
We might be developing one in house if we can't find one that meets our needs.
Have you taken a look at ActiveCollab [0]? I have a friend who's in a similar space who swears by it... looking to get my environment to move to it as well.
I'd be extremely surprised if you cannot manage to find one solution that fits your agency's needs from the plethora of SaaS products in those categories.
[+] [-] coldtea|12 years ago|reply
Every time I see things such as these I think: 20-something, doesn't understand money ($20/month seems "too much"), doesn't understand business, not much sense of humor either, mostly pissed about other being succesful...
The kind of people who write M$ with a dollar sign.
[+] [-] nswanberg|12 years ago|reply
And the meanness made me overlook the funny bits like the subheader about less and more, and some of the sections, the quote by Ghandi, and the completely gratuitous "Happy Wednesday" way up in the corner that changes, depending on the day (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19865106/how-does-37signa...).
[+] [-] majestic217|12 years ago|reply
Based on the date the link was submitted to reddit was done around the same time as the Curebit fiasco. I like 37Signals but admittedly they did behave like arrogant aholes during it. Not something I'd expect from such well respected members of the tech community. The bit where DHH tweets their investors is what does it for me.
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/28/cant-look-away/
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/01/31/this-site-mocks-37-...
[+] [-] api|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pjmlp|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] asdasf|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nswanberg|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] interstitial|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Argorak|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AnotherDesigner|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raganwald|12 years ago|reply
Yes. If you went to high school, you may recall a certain type of person: They'd pick someone else, anyone else, and make fun of them for no reason other than to elevate themselves as an arbiter of taste.
"Ewww, reg is wearing a bow tie. What a fashion disaster!"
[+] [-] unclebucknasty|12 years ago|reply
But, I don't think the software needs to be bad or they need to mistreat people to be parodied. If you can capture an element of something, then exaggerate it into absurdity. it's parody.
Also not so sure about attributing jealousy or hate as the motive here. I mean, it could be, but I just don't know what's on the author's mind (except that he/she clearly believes some things about the company to be absurd).
But, it does strike me that the only things worth parodying, for the most part, are those that either succeed or that fail in some very public or fantastic way.
[+] [-] anon1385|12 years ago|reply
Do they? That isn't my experience.
>treat […] their […] customers well
Do they? That isn't my experience.
[+] [-] asdasf|12 years ago|reply
Two of those are subjective and I'll ignore. But it is educational, it links to alternatives to 37 signals products.
>I can't really think of anything 37signals has done to warrant this
The company and its reputation was built on aggressively bad-mouthing and trash-talking anyone and everyone they could. Remember when rails started out? Anyone who dared to like something other than their framework was an idiot (at best).
[+] [-] davidw|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] notacoward|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mam8cc|12 years ago|reply
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/01/31/this-site-mocks-37-...
[+] [-] antidaily|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] majestic217|12 years ago|reply
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/01/31/this-site-mocks-37-...
[+] [-] bluedino|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nav1|12 years ago|reply
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37signals
[+] [-] ansimionescu|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] logicallee|12 years ago|reply
basically they're branding two digits + a common word. why not.
Personally, I prefer to brand things that make slightly more sense, but to each their own. it works just as well as branding an "io" at the end of something.
it's just about repeating it a few times, until it can be recalled, and once it can it's quick to get to.
[+] [-] clavalle|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hmhrex|12 years ago|reply
We are a Web company that handles projects including Web, Film, Photography and design.
We might be developing one in house if we can't find one that meets our needs.
[+] [-] xemoka|12 years ago|reply
[0] https://www.activecollab.com/
[+] [-] adrianmsmith|12 years ago|reply
I blogged about why I made the choice, i.e. what it has that other tools doesn't, here: http://www.databasesandlife.com/liquid-planner/
[+] [-] gboudrias|12 years ago|reply
Obviously we're pretty big fans of open-source. Let me know if you want beta access: http://praxis.coop/en/contact (forgive the website, it's new).
[+] [-] thoughtpalette|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] conorclearshot|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josephjrobison|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thrillgore|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justathrow2k|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ChikkaChiChi|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bestdayever|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pooshoot|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 650REDHAIR|12 years ago|reply
That's pretty hilarious and I love the Trello link!
[+] [-] talles|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arc_of_descent|12 years ago|reply