mikedeh 10 Feb 06

Looks interesting. Thanks for another useful business app.

Matt 10 Feb 06

So tell us, when will this ‘Compass’ app be available?

erwin blom 10 Feb 06

now it looks brilliant, but very different from yesterday’s test!

JF 10 Feb 06

Matt, we don’t share release dates because we don’t have release dates. Hopefully this year is all I can say.

Christopher Fahey 10 Feb 06

Looks awesome. I look forward to giving it a spin with my team!

Patrick Rhone 10 Feb 06

OMG! Looks sweet and way better than what you have shown us during the open testing (and it looked great then). Can’t wait to use this.

Rabbit 10 Feb 06

HA! JF rules. He said hopefully this year.

That reminds me of the time I told a customer over the phone that it was possible his problem would never get fixed. Because, well, anything’s possible.

I was immediately reprimanded and instructed never to say such a thing again. ;)

I dig the multiple chat room tabs. Now I can talk to my co-workers and cyber in the next room! XD

Andrew 10 Feb 06

Nice, can’t wait, will it be early next week when Campfire goes public?

Beau Hartshorne 10 Feb 06

JF: what tool did you use to record the screencast?

Beau Hartshorne 10 Feb 06

JF: what tool did you use to record the screencast?

David Piehler 10 Feb 06

Wow, this looks quite useful. I can’t wait to try it out. My question is the same as Beau’s - how did you record the vid?

JF 10 Feb 06

By hand. I drew each frame. One pixel at a time.

Or, SnapzPro.

Dan Boland 10 Feb 06

The transcript browser looks great.

And maybe you should just put “We did this with Snapz Pro X” for every video post — every time, multiple people ask what you used. ;D

nate 10 Feb 06

OMFG COMPASS?!?!?!!!!one11!

Just kiddng.

sxates 10 Feb 06

I think it’s kinda funny that Google just released something similar for Gmail yesterday. This looks much more robust though.

sxates 10 Feb 06

I think it’s kinda funny that Google just released something similar for Gmail yesterday. This looks much more robust though.

Ryan Schroeder 10 Feb 06

Nice! the Transcripts look great and seem to be real difference maker. Plus it was fun stepping through frame-by-frame to see what you guys were up to! :)

JF 10 Feb 06

Gmail’s chat is a totally different product in concept and execution.

Hunter 10 Feb 06

The transcripts talk about problems with the file uploading in Campfire.

I’ve seen file upload problems with Rails apps - any chance Jamis figured it out and wants to share what the problem was? :-)

random8r 10 Feb 06

Mmmmm looks yummy as. :-) I can’t wait to try this one out. MmmMmmmMMm (falls over, frothing from his ruby-encrusted mouth). ;-)

Seriously, I love you guys.

Drew Pickard 10 Feb 06

Screencast??

I’m so dumbfounded, I can’t even finish this textcast …

Alan 10 Feb 06

The extra context provided by the details now visible in the screen shot and the movie, have made a big impression.

It now looks like a seriously useful app’ and frankly, the little bit I saw in the beta had left me wondering (slightly) how this was worth your collective time.

Now I’ve seen the light (of the campfire).

RS 10 Feb 06

Drew: lol.

Web Man Walking 10 Feb 06

This is a vast improvement from the Beta I tried last night. As others mentioned, was struggling to see the benefits of the chat app over MSN/Skype but its now very clear. Thanks for this.

Matt 10 Feb 06

I really like the real time filtering of transcripts you showed in the browser movie. That is just the sort of thing that Ajax should be used for. Bravo.

I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of that kind of thing in the future.

Brandon Eley 10 Feb 06

Looks good! I think this will be a very useful application for collaboration. Any plans to integrate this into the higher level Basecamp plans??? Having transcripts of customer and contractor chats right in the project would be extremely useful.

Elliott 10 Feb 06

Compass?

Fill me in guys. im lost.

thanks

Dave 10 Feb 06

Guys. What about the sunrise app? I am really looking forward for this CRM tool. Campfire looks just great! BTW - does anyone here what this new site is up to? click

Dave 10 Feb 06

This is the link guys… link If anyone knows something please write as it is really interesting. seems like a new search engine or something like that

Matt/SLAPSHOTW 10 Feb 06

Dave,

Could you make your plug any more obvious?

-Matt

Matt 10 Feb 06

Hmm, lots of double posts today- site’s a little slow after the “post comment” button, and none of us are realizing that it actually goes through I guess….

-Matt

tom 10 Feb 06

Played with it last night. F’n AMAZING. Another win for 37s. Keep cranking out of the great work guys. Thanks for putting Chi-Town back on the Tech Map.

Rahul 10 Feb 06

I think it’s pretty funny that JF acts all cooool about Gmail chat in the comments thread but you can obviously see Sam flipping out about it in the chat transcripts from the Campfire movie. :D

Andy 10 Feb 06

Looks awesome guys, another outstanding job

brad 10 Feb 06

I think it�s pretty funny that JF acts all cooool about Gmail chat in the comments thread but you can obviously see Sam flipping out about it in the chat transcripts from the Campfire movie. :D

I think if you look more closely you’ll see that JF was all coool about it in the chat transcript as well. ;-) Like he says, Googletalk and Campfire are very different.

One thing I learned from looking at the chat transcript, though, is 37signals’ secret to success: their programmers are up more than half the night and everyone else starts working early in the morning. Look at the timestamps on some of those chats ;-)

JF 10 Feb 06

Brad, timestamps are busted ;)

Matt Turner 10 Feb 06

Love the ‘This is a test, not a beta’ at the top of the screen.

One of the funniest moments at the carson web summit on wednesday was when DHH said ‘i think that betas are bullshit’ and the guy from flickr was looking down at his feet for about 15 seconds after that.

Don Wilson 10 Feb 06

Jason F.: v 1.1: https://projects.37signals.com/login
Jason F. Hey Guys
Jason F. home stretch
Sam S. morning
Jason F. let’s kick ass and get this ready for soft launch this week
we’ll announce the official launch beginning of next week
Sam S.: what’s soft launch?
Jason F.: we launch without announcing it
just open it up
campfirenow.com works, etc
Sam S.: cool
Jason F.: let people start trickling in
catch any major problems before we make the big announcement

Interesting indeed. ;)

JRT 10 Feb 06

Looks like some other chat software for blogging is about to be released into the wild.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/02/10/preview-of-3bubbles/

Anonymous Coward 10 Feb 06

Campfire isn’t “chat software for blogging”

Bob Monsour 10 Feb 06

Can’t wait. The test was a tease and the movie has me wanting. I can see the uses and they’re not small.

John 11 Feb 06

Ha. I think you guys are great too. ;)

Anonymous Coward 11 Feb 06

What’s wrong with (public) betas? I think we’ve pretty clearly seen in the last week that 37signals believes in the importance of betas — why not admit it? There’s not shame in testing software…

Anonymous Coward 11 Feb 06

Campfire isn’t a public beta. The public can’t sign up to use the service. It’s just a test 37signals was performing in public. Big difference.

Anonymous Coward 11 Feb 06

Honestly? No, there isn’t a huge difference.

Am I the only one who feels that 37signals has bought in a little too strongly to their own hype? They’re having public (beta?) tests and their considering a soft launch (perhaps) in order to ensure they can handle the load. I fear they may be worrying too much about adhering to their public statements and published philosophy rather than doing what is right for them.

In the end, though, a soft launch is in many ways a poor man’s beta…

Eric 11 Feb 06

There is a huge difference. Beta’s are open for extended periods of time to test features. The Campfire “soft launch” was merely a couple hour test to see if their server could handle it. They did want to hear about bugs but I doubt people found too many bugs they didnt already know about. 37 uses their own products as they make them. In a way, they themselves are the beta, then they have a load test to see if it scales, then its off in the wild.

Anonymous Coward 11 Feb 06

Past tense? The soft launch hasn’t happened yet!

Matt Carey 11 Feb 06

From looking at the movie file and how 37 signals use campfire it has opened my eyes..

I use IM with our colleagues & contractors, but the ‘chat’ is only a snapshot in time when needed. By that I mean I start a new chat when I need to, then the chat ends. I log the chat for admin but that is it.

37 signals seem to use campfire a constantly running ‘virtual office’ (for want of a better term). It is always running and people come in and out.

I hadn’t expected this as I assumed campfire was more like iChat/IM in a browser. But I can see real-life examples of when campfire will be amazing — having a room running all the time will be invaluable on projects, especially when they get hectic!

(assuming that my assumptions are not wide of the mark!)

JF 11 Feb 06

Matt, you are spot on. Campfire rooms are always open. Persistent chat rooms. You always know where to drop in to have a chat.

Don Wilson 11 Feb 06

Could it be that the 37s team has grown old of the term ‘beta’ as I have? People use it so losely now that ‘normal’ developers tend to not use it because people automatically think it’s public and ready to use.

Testing is the perfect word for what 37s has been doing within the past few days, which is mostly stress tests and bug fixes.

Matt/SLAPSHOTW 12 Feb 06

My biggest question- how’s this thing going to be priced?? I assume more $=more rooms at the same time, but are we talking $5 a month or $20 a month or what?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

-Matt

John 12 Feb 06

Hey Matt -

Prices are shown on 37signals.com as “Free, $12-$49” just above the Campfire logo.

JF 12 Feb 06

You’ll be able to create unlimited rooms. The pricing is based on how many people are chatting at once across all your rooms.

Elliott 12 Feb 06

Is there a confirmed time for campfire to go live?

Anonymous Coward 12 Feb 06

Elliot, I suspect you’ll see it when it’s ready.

z 12 Feb 06

anyone else’s qt blows up on this movie or is it just me? powerbook g4, osx 10.4.4 all s/w up to date. qt pro.

z 12 Feb 06

anyone else’s qt blows up on this movie or is it just me? powerbook g4, osx 10.4.4 all s/w up to date. qt pro.

Orya 12 Feb 06

z - Same problem for me, I used VLC to view it.

z 12 Feb 06

Orya - thanks for the tip, worked like a charm!

Jake 13 Feb 06

I don’t mean to be rude, this is an honest question; could you please explain what Campfire has over simple IRC?

Robert G. 13 Feb 06

Hi all. I’ve been following 37 Signals for 3-4 months � following the applications’ progress, reading the blog’s and replies, but I’m a little lost. I don’t understand the amount of raw enthusiasm I see in the majority of the replies. These applications look very nice, and they do include some useful features but I’m trying to figure out what new or innovative solutions these applications are providing.

When I read the replies to a SvN post, the majority come across as very enthusiastic about the product being described but with no basis. Some are even enthusiastic simply by the fact that 37 Signals is creating a new product. Unfortunately, I have not read any reply that states a reason. What feature of Basecamp made it the perfect solution, what new thing did Backpack or Writeboard do that was the clincher to use it.

I have read and understood the descriptions of each of the four flagship products, Backpack, Basecamp, Writeboard, and Ta-da List but still do not see what uniqueness they provide; what about these products make them better then the rest. From reviewing the feature sets and uses my impression’s of these products are of the standard personal organizer, project management utility, and online to-do list. Writeboard is interesting being a cross between the show changes feature of Word and a CVS but I fail to see how it fulfills the need of authors, journalists, and editors better than current solutions.

If someone could say in what way these products have been helpful I’d be very appreciative.

z 13 Feb 06

unfortunatly noone can be told what the matrix.. err.. backpack (basecamp, writeboard, etc) is, you have to try it for yourself.

this is it. after this there is no turning back. you take the blue pill, you wake up, and believe whatever you want to believe.

take the red pill, and i’ll show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

(sorry, couldnt help it ;)

seriously, though. people who enjoy these products (myself included) tend to enjoy (i think) the level of efficiency (and thus productivity) that comes from careful attention to detail on the part of the developers and designers.

so you do really need to try them out in order to understand.

Matt/SLAPSHOTW 13 Feb 06

Jason,

Interesting idea with the pricing being by user, instead of by # of rooms- surprising pricing structure, just like how Basecamp has a surprising structure (compared to competitors).

Do you guys tend to use a different room for every project you’re working on, or seperate rooms another way?

-Matt

Matt/SLAPSHOTW 13 Feb 06

Jason,

Interesting idea with the pricing being by user, instead of by # of rooms- surprising pricing structure, just like how Basecamp has a surprising structure (compared to competitors).

Do you guys tend to use a different room for every project you’re working on, or seperate rooms another way?

-Matt

Matt/SLAPSHOTW 13 Feb 06

Ok, there’s gotta be some issue in this forum- sorry again for the double post- the whole page just keeps loading, and doesn’t confirm the post!

-Matt

mattl 13 Feb 06

Crashing for me here too. 10.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4 with QT 7 Pro. :(

Anonymous Coward 13 Feb 06

I reckon today is the day…

fatty 13 Feb 06

the screencast is crashing my QT. 10.4.4 with QT 7 Pro. Trying to view it through Camino.

Robert G 13 Feb 06

z. I failed to mention that I have tried these products by creating personal accounts to see first hand what benefits are available. I agree with you 100% that they have been designed with the utmost care to detail. My question was (as an example) why use Writeboard instead of a full featured word processor � since I couldn’t see the benefits I thought I’d ask. They seem, to me, like a redesign of an aged concept of which there are already too many alternatives. I’ll keep watching the roll-outs and trying them as they come.

Anonymous Coward 13 Feb 06

My question was (as an example) why use Writeboard instead of a full featured word processor � since I couldn�t see the benefits I thought I�d ask.

Cause 1. you don’t need a full featured word processor to write a few paragraphs of text, 2. you want to collaborate with someone on the text over the web without having to send files back and forth via email, 3, you want to be able to get at these documents from anywhere any time over the web.

Stefan Seiz 13 Feb 06

Yep, that movie is crashing my WebKit too. NetNewsWire as well as Safari every single time i try to view it. Just when the link to the left is clicked and the animated “loading” circle at the top right appears…

Robert G 13 Feb 06

Thanks Anon, I really appreciate the reply.

Robert G 13 Feb 06

Thanks Anon, I really appreciate the reply.

Anonymous Coward 13 Feb 06

Interesting idea with the pricing being by user, instead of by # of rooms- surprising pricing structure, just like how Basecamp has a surprising structure (compared to competitors).

Seems quite logical as the costs for 37s will be on bandwidth, which is governed by the number of users hitting the server. Number of rooms is immaterial.

Brian D 13 Feb 06

The movie is crashing Firefox and Safari under 10.4.4 as well as IE6 and Firefox under XP Sp2.

Too bad, I really wanted to check it out.

tim 14 Feb 06

For all those that can’t view the movie, Orya suggested using VLC… it works perfectly.
For those of you who don’t know what VLC is, google is your friend ;-)

Brian D 14 Feb 06

Tim, thanks. I had read that. I just don’t see installing another video player on my laptop just to view a movie on SVN. It should work in Quicktime in a standard browser. Having to use VLC just isn’t keeping it real.

John 14 Feb 06

Brian: works fine for me on the same platform as you, in both browsers.

Anonymous Coward 14 Feb 06

crashes safari 2.0.3 (417.8) on os x 10.4.4 8g32 with qt 7.0.4. also crashes quicktime player.

Greg Militello 14 Feb 06

Crashes here to. Firefox 1.5.0.1, Safari 2.0.3, and Camino. Issue with Quicktime?

Greg Militello 14 Feb 06

I just downloaded the movie, and it plays alright in VLC (quite a few artifacts though).

Gabriel Radic 14 Feb 06

The first 5 secods or so look great, but it crashed NNW after that :-) And Safari, and QuickTime Player.

Aaron 14 Feb 06

I can’t wait for this. Hurry guys! :)

Anonymous Coward 15 Feb 06

FYI, if anyone’s reading this—it’s been released!