37 Signals and Group Effort

Own a small business? Operate a club at college? Just looking to find a way to collaborate with others while remaining free of software licensing issues more making great expenditures just to do virtual group work as seamlessly as possible? We’ll there’s hope, and it lies in the fingers of the clan over at 37signals.

Their products aren’t grabbing headlines at the WSJ, and there’s only a tiny chance that they’ll bring industry megaliths like Microsoft to the ground, but with a healthy supply of over 500,000 users (that includes small enterprise), they aren’t doing bad at all. And their collection of utilities - not to steal words from their mission statement – are as left of center from bloated software as one could get.

Networking is fundamental to making 37signals’ Basecamp, and other developments, shine. Singular workers can get things done on the company’s servers, but the majority of elements that have won praise and awards will go to waste.

Basecamp is offered with a 30-day free trial, Campfire and Backpack are offered in tiered options (free up to $49 and $14, respectively), and Writeboard and Ta-Da List are “100% absolutely free.”