Does anyone realize how much FREE Services the world has gotten from Google over the past 10 years?????????????
Imagine having had to PAY for search or gMail or Google Apps?!
What is the big deal about giving something back to a company that has given so much to society
Over the past two years, while posting and making suggestions on the very popular blog of one of their employee, Google took about 10 to 20 ideas and suggestions that were made and implemented them - although their was no Thank You or acknowledgment.
Was glad to give something back to them and would do it all again
Charlie Key
· 1 year ago
Basically this is a crock. I understand Google taking down but what I am disappointed about is that 37 Signals was so worked up about some competition that they felt they needed to write Google about it. I understand that 37 Signals uses simplicity as a competitive advantage but shouldn't they have enough customer loyalty to stand up to an application that was probably built in a week.
Adam Posey
· 1 year ago
First off, 37Signals made one comment (apparently in an email, no less) about the fiasco. They were understandably upset, however. Put yourself in their shoes.
You are a medium sized business with a good brand and a great product. You're doing nicely, you've gotten a sizable investment from Jeff Bezos, and things are going well for you. Then, the multi-billion dollar monolith that is "Google" decides it wants to play in your space.
Instead of innovating, or doing something different though, Google straight up clones your site. Providing an almost perfectly functioning version of your product for free because THEY can afford to do that.
If 37signals was straight-up an Amazon property, that would be such a different story. This is a case of Google coming dangerously close to anti-competitive behavior, and I am glad they took huddlechat down.
Michael
· 1 year ago
No, they should not have removed it. It's an app that they built, there are so called clones all over the internet. Nothing is original anymore. This one was built with the sole purpose of showing off what Googel App Engine is capable of, and what better way to show that than to build an app like one that eveyone knows about with it.
Peter
· 1 year ago
Gotta agree with Adam on this one. If I had spent time/money developing an idea and then some large company cloned it almost outright I would probably be quite concerned. Taking something that's been done already and copying it isn't nearly as much work as creating it in the first place.
I think Google did the right thing in pulling HuddleChat in this case. It would be different if they'd developed it from scratch, different layouts, maybe more/less in the way of functionality. However to do what is pretty much a straight copy just leans towards "evil".
I think that 37 Signals may need to take a deeper look into its business model, though. If a couple of weeks of spare time coding can pretty much replicate their site, they'll need to enhance or diversify pretty quickly to stay afloat. If nothing else they should thank Google for showing them how easy it is to copy their functionality.
jdq
· 1 year ago
It wasn't some multi-billion dollar monolith deciding to take over the market of a small company. It was three Google developers making a sample application to show how easy and powerful Google's new platform is. Huddlechat is not something Google was trying to financially pursue, it was not made to take over anyone's business. It wasn't even a Google Labs project, which often get spun into true Google web properties. It was a _sample application_, which happened to be a clone of a real webapp. They were also planning to release all the source, as they will with all the sample apps. If anything, 37 signals is upset about that, because it gives anyone the chance to run their webapp and build upon it.
Google should NOT have removed it, but they did so because it was the least confrontational thing to do.
Adam Posey
· 1 year ago
I disagree. The app was built by Google Developers, endorsed by Google at campfire (oh the irony), and then featured on the Gallery.
Google did EVERYTHING but slap their own brand on it.
jeff
· 1 year ago
straight up now tell me do you want to love me forever...oh oh oh.
Adam Posey
· 1 year ago
However, I think this whole fiasco should serve as a very clear warning to 37signals that their product pricing scheme is endangered.
I love Backpack, and I love tada lists, but what I don't love is the pricing on those schemes.
If I were in 37signals shoes I would heavily consider dropping prices a bit, and pushing a variable pricing scheme where you can custom-tailor the price to exactly your needs as a small business or an individual.
I would also drop the number of users restraint from Campfire, that one just seems like an artificial constraint to me.
Michael Beck
· 1 year ago
I agree that Campfire's business model's days are numbered. By Google pulling the plug, they've just been handed a big reprieve, albeit temporary.
Time for 37signals to go back to the drawing board and craft up a new way to justify charging for something that is about to become free.
Basically, he claims that Campfire itself was a rip off of Echo2.
jdq
· 1 year ago
Of course it was built by Google developers, who else is going to make a sample application available for a product launch.
Endorsed at the campfire? If by endorsed you mean shown as a sample application along with other sample applications, then yes, it was endorsed by Google.
Of course it was featured in the gallery. So were all the other Sample Applications. You have to put something in there to start off the gallery.
You are trying too hard to make something out of nothing.
dustin
· 1 year ago
This poll is totally biased - sure, if you put a poll at the end of a blog entry that makes it seem like they shouldn't have taken it down it will seem like they shouldn't have taken it down.
If you really want to get unbiased results, just put the poll out there in the wild, not on a biased blog entry. ADAM OSTROW - your poll is LAME.
Why would anyone pay for that crap in the first place?
Nox
· 1 year ago
Denial is generally not a viable longterm strategy in business. Simplicity invites duplication.
I've never seen any of the technologies described here, but is this to say that if I developed a multiuser chatting system - that I would be stepping on someone's toes who had made this remarkably minor and unoriginal effort at some point before me?
Noone's entitled to success. Doing things that lead to success, leads one to success. Refining what has been out there for years, and basing a business model around that is not the strongest platform one could imagine.
All Comments
Imagine having had to PAY for search or gMail or Google Apps?!
What is the big deal about giving something back to a company that has given so much to society
Over the past two years, while posting and making suggestions on the very popular blog of one of their employee, Google took about 10 to 20 ideas and suggestions that were made and implemented them - although their was no Thank You or acknowledgment.
Was glad to give something back to them and would do it all again
You are a medium sized business with a good brand and a great product. You're doing nicely, you've gotten a sizable investment from Jeff Bezos, and things are going well for you. Then, the multi-billion dollar monolith that is "Google" decides it wants to play in your space.
Instead of innovating, or doing something different though, Google straight up clones your site. Providing an almost perfectly functioning version of your product for free because THEY can afford to do that.
If 37signals was straight-up an Amazon property, that would be such a different story. This is a case of Google coming dangerously close to anti-competitive behavior, and I am glad they took huddlechat down.
I think Google did the right thing in pulling HuddleChat in this case. It would be different if they'd developed it from scratch, different layouts, maybe more/less in the way of functionality. However to do what is pretty much a straight copy just leans towards "evil".
I think that 37 Signals may need to take a deeper look into its business model, though. If a couple of weeks of spare time coding can pretty much replicate their site, they'll need to enhance or diversify pretty quickly to stay afloat. If nothing else they should thank Google for showing them how easy it is to copy their functionality.
Google should NOT have removed it, but they did so because it was the least confrontational thing to do.
Google did EVERYTHING but slap their own brand on it.
I love Backpack, and I love tada lists, but what I don't love is the pricing on those schemes.
If I were in 37signals shoes I would heavily consider dropping prices a bit, and pushing a variable pricing scheme where you can custom-tailor the price to exactly your needs as a small business or an individual.
I would also drop the number of users restraint from Campfire, that one just seems like an artificial constraint to me.
Time for 37signals to go back to the drawing board and craft up a new way to justify charging for something that is about to become free.
37signals is going to need to come up with a better response than:
http://twitter.com/sh/statuses/785076522
Parting shot: Isn't it ironic that HuddleChat was born out of technology announced at Campfire One?
Does no one remember AIM? I think they've offered multiuser chat for over a decade. Sure, it's not web-based, but that's just a technicality.
I also think 37Signals needs to reevaluate their pricing, as well as do a better job of integrating their products.
But I guess it's all about the Benjamins now.
Hey 37S...who are you? The music industry?
FUCK YOU, Infinity.
http://www.zedshaw.com/blog/2008-04-09.html
Basically, he claims that Campfire itself was a rip off of Echo2.
Endorsed at the campfire? If by endorsed you mean shown as a sample application along with other sample applications, then yes, it was endorsed by Google.
Of course it was featured in the gallery. So were all the other Sample Applications. You have to put something in there to start off the gallery.
You are trying too hard to make something out of nothing.
If you really want to get unbiased results, just put the poll out there in the wild, not on a biased blog entry. ADAM OSTROW - your poll is LAME.
Why would anyone pay for that crap in the first place?
I've never seen any of the technologies described here, but is this to say that if I developed a multiuser chatting system - that I would be stepping on someone's toes who had made this remarkably minor and unoriginal effort at some point before me?
Noone's entitled to success. Doing things that lead to success, leads one to success. Refining what has been out there for years, and basing a business model around that is not the strongest platform one could imagine.