Because of my lack of time, posting here has taken a back seat to shifting gears through the twisties of life, something along the lines of a sitting behind the handlebars of a Honda CBR600RR and working my way through Highway 2 that spans the ridges of the Angeles National Forest. Pardon the day dreaming. The weather's right. And we're in Southern California. Granted. I'm more into dirt. But I almost had a associate editor gig at a motorcycle magazine and happened to be doing some working slightly related to crotch rockets.

Anyhow, I've been eyeballing 37 Signals software for years and even integrated it into the operational backbone of a few businesses. The other day, we launched its Backpack software, primarily used for fast Twitter-like communications and scheduling amidst business teams. It almost has a and Facebook-like feel to it and appears intuitive. And it is. But it's not as intuitive as I would have imagined. Sometimes, there are aspects of its various means of updating, where you just don't know where it fits. And its various features don't cross post within the overall hosted software application. It is good at organization, but it's not just doesn't connect the dots the way I'd like it to, which is why we initially leaned more toward its Basecamp offering, the project management software.

But, as with Backpack, the Basecamp project management software is not complete. It lacked an essential component, scheduling upon a multi-category and multi-person calendar. And you would think each of these software applications, Basecamp and Backpack, would work together as one, but they don't.The same goes for its real-time chat, code sharing and file sharing software, Campfire. Integration just isn't there.

While there are some major companies using each of these applications, I am amazed not only at each application's lack of completeness in concept but also its lack of seamless integration between them. I could probably or at least almost get a more complete package out of a cloned Joomla install I have. It has project management components but also a list of components that can handle many of the tasks just as well. Tossing in an install of Simple Machines Forum might even work just the same.

Would I have made the same decision to use this software a week ago if I would have known what I know now? Possibly. But I would have actually taken one or two other applications for a longer test drive before pulling the trigger. Amid the dozens of hosted applications that are out there, I wanted an application that was hosted, since I did not want to stretch myself too thin on maintain the code or even the server the software was on. Likewise, I wanted an interface that was simple to understand and required very little of a learning curve, especially considering that much of the staff are not particularly savvy on computers and need encouragement when adapting new methods, not discouragement by a daunting learning curve and distraction by an onslaught of unnecessary bells and whistles. We need to a simple and focused intuitive interface that fosters communication amidst the regional teams and results in the fruits of simplified team collaboration and results in improved productivity. Basecamp fits.

This is not a review by any stretch of the imagination. It's just some random thoughts to get me off the idea of deadlines for a few minutes. With some coercion, I can expand upon my insight in greater detail.