Some of my favorite solutions!

First, I'm in love with 37signals and their flagship products: Basecamp, Highrise, and Backpack. I've always loved technology for what it can do, not what it is. I don't really care how something works, just as long as it does.

Bottom line? A vast, overwhelming majority of software on the market today is absolute and total crap. It's difficult to use, sucks to support and is the bane of any new hire until they quit or just give in to mediocrity.

Software should be easy to use, it should support very specific business functions and support them well.

37signals is a beacon of light against bloatware - and we need all the light we can get our there. 

Another AWESOME solution is MailChimp - which is an email marketing solution. First, this solution is super easy to use - it really is an absolute work of art. Anybody can leverage this solution. It also does a fantastic job of reporting results with some excellent analytics tools. My favorite part has to be the Google Docs integration - here you can really see the power of Cloud Computing. I signed into my Google Docs right from MailChimp and had access to all my docs right in the MailChimp interface - I selected the spreadsheet with my list of contacts and before I even knew what I was doing, I was done.


I'm no artist but with Picnik I can play one on the Internet. Web based, like all these solutions, and super easy to use. Picnik was recently acquired by Google so it will be interesting to see if Picnik shows up in Google Sites, Docs, Presentations and other parts of the Google Apps suite.

These solutions are making our world a better place and put the incredible power of software into anyone's hands - how cool!