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43 Things, the pre-launch
18 Nov 2004 by Jason Fried
So, for the past couple of months we’ve been working on a top-secret client design project for some robots in Seattle (hey, there they are! and, wait, didn’t some of those guys work at Amazon?). We’ve been taking on less client work lately so we can focus on our internal projects/products, but this one was too interesting on a personal and professional level to pass up. Plus we like companies with numbers in their names.
So, what is this thing? Well, the full site will be launching soon, but today they launched their teaser site code-named “Twinkler” (yes, after the pony). Have a look and play around a bit. Do a little “goal shopping.” And, while you can’t do much yet, you can certainly get a head start on thinking big (which is what the site will be all about).
Over the next 43 days the Robots will be letting more information out and slowly inviting people to jump in before the launch. Here’s what the robots say about it. If you’re looking for more clues, read up on the age of the amateur by Josh Petersen.
17 comments so far (Post a Comment)
19 Nov 2004 | Andy Baio said...
Neat idea! Looks like we killed it, though. "Application error (Apache)"
19 Nov 2004 | Randy said...
This is fucking cool.
19 Nov 2004 | Daniel Spils said...
It's a pleasure to work with you 37signalers. Your designs rule as does your ability to think big. Jason, Ryan, Matt, David ... the little pony rides are on me the next time you're in Seattle.
19 Nov 2004 | Randy said...
Can we guess about what the real site going to be like? Will you tell us if we're right?
19 Nov 2004 | steve from Denver, now in FLA said...
you're link/their site has been jacked!!!!
19 Nov 2004 | Jocke said...
I am not one to easily "fall into praise", but this was good, really really good. The idea is brilliant and the design is cool and at an instant glance understandable.
(I am allready adding things and things and things and things and things ;)
19 Nov 2004 | Carl said...
Very neat idea. Apart from my question below, the usability of this application is excellent.
Are the selection of "twinkles" random? Each time I refresh, I get a totally new group of "twinkles" or are they perhaps ordered by "last updated"?
19 Nov 2004 | Another Carl said...
Man this is cool. I can't wait to see the ACTUAL site! Guess we'll have to wait 43 days :(
Any UI teasers you can share?
19 Nov 2004 | daveg said...
Whats with everyone wanting to Forget ruby?
19 Nov 2004 | daveg said...
buahaha 2 people want to "make it impossible to embed ads in RSS feeds".
19 Nov 2004 | One of several Steves said...
OK, I'll admit that these days I'm far more cynical than I usually am, but I honestly don't understand the fawning over this. I suddenly feel like I've been transported back to 1997, where simply because someone had an interesting idea and posted it online, suddenly it's become the coolest thing since whatever the cool, useless thing was last week.
If this was just a personal project, different story. But if I'm reading the original post correctly, this is a company, and companies usually intend to make money. I don't see how they're getting to that from here. Maybe I just need to be patient and wait to see more than a teaser. But based on this, I hardly see it as anything other than an interesting little experiment (a decently presented one at that).
19 Nov 2004 | JF said...
I don't see how they're getting to that from here. Maybe I just need to be patient and wait to see more than a teaser. But based on this, I hardly see it as anything other than an interesting little experiment (a decently presented one at that).
What you are seeing is a very small part of a much bigger idea. Stay tuned.
19 Nov 2004 | brock said...
i just don't understand why they had to rip off the name!
http://www.43folders.com/
19 Nov 2004 | JF said...
i just don't understand why they had to rip off the name!
Domain Name: 43THINGS.COM
Created on: 06-Apr-2004
Domain Name: 43FOLDERS.COM
Created on: 31-Aug-04
19 Nov 2004 | Ben said...
43things.com was registered around 4 months before 43folders.
See http://www.robotcoop.com/weblog/32/#comment
22 Nov 2004 | rik abel said...
wow, at first it i thought it was some sort of crazy mind- (or cache-) reading software, since the site i was just on before visiting svn was the Ruby website, and then the first thing i see, in BIG letters, is 'Learn Ruby'. But it was merely coincidence, it seems. How disappointing...
looking forward to learning what the whole big idea is, though.
