37signals has delivered an update to its Rails-based Backpack data organization utility. Whereas the software would formerly only operate as a personal manager for users, it has been updated to provide groups of people the option to keep track of all manner of information.
The company behind the software is now marketing the product as the revival of the intranet. Or, more specifically, they have labeled the new Backpack an intranet solution that colleagues and associates would actually want to use.
And one could see why they are selling it as such. Backpack at its core is an eminently simple Web-based organizer that behaves in a easy, clear, and intuitively understandable fashion. All is straightforward. Nearly ever function is designed to be ready to use, right from the start.
Some might consider the software created by 37signals too elementary and too bareboned to be used to any great extent. But if confusing excess in features is what you are troubled by, and want to get things done without fiddling with settings and extemporaneous gadgets, 37signals does a decent job of providing the essentials.