Made the leap.
For the first time in my life I am paying for email. This is also the first time I have ever blogged — not quite sure how to feel about that.
But, first, why did I decide to pay for email? It's something I already manage with relative ease — it's not a terrific struggle for me to reach inbox zero. But there were several factors influencing my decision. One factor was the chance to secure a once-in-a-lifetime email address. This is the first time my email address has had fewer total characters than my current phone number (including the country code ...in Germany). That consideration alone makes the yearly price tag worth it.
Another factor was the product itself. HEY promises to be a radically different approach to email. Normally I would dismiss this as tech-babble, but the 37signals crew has been at this digital product development thing for 20 years. I must confess, the sheer morbid curiosity of discovering exactly what fresh new email features Jason Fried and DHH believed I should have added to my day-to-day life was significant enough to make me want to reach for my credit card and pay for an account.
Is it perfect? No. But so far, so pretty-darn-good.
The last — and most important — factor is what 37signals stands for and the philosophy that shapes their products. I'm a fan. The founders of 37signals have said that a business should treat its culture as a product; a product that needs to be cared for, tested, innovated and iterated upon. However, I would say culture is 37signals' most important product. HEY and Basecamp and the various books from 37signals strike me as vehicles for exporting 37signals' work philosophy to the wider professional world.
These products help encourage specific, healthy day-to-day work behaviors. In the context of a company, if these behaviors are practiced by enough people for a long enough period of time, they can influence the company culture. Influence the company culture and you can begin influencing people's home life and the time they spend with their families — and do so for the better.
Again, I feel 37signals' culture is its most important product. The philosophy that informs this culture is one that think is largely correct, and is one whose widespread adoption would serve to benefit countless professionals all over the world. So I hope to see the continued adoption of this philosophy towards work. And I think HEY is an exciting new vehicle to help further this adoption. I'm rooting for it to do well.
So here I am.
With a dope new email address.
And blogging.
For the first time.
Ever.
Because of course I am. I paid nearly 100-MFing-dollars for this damn thing. Failing to milk it for all it's worth would lead to a degree of self-loathing that my ego just can't withstand right now.
I love you.
-JKarl
For the first time in my life I am paying for email. This is also the first time I have ever blogged — not quite sure how to feel about that.
But, first, why did I decide to pay for email? It's something I already manage with relative ease — it's not a terrific struggle for me to reach inbox zero. But there were several factors influencing my decision. One factor was the chance to secure a once-in-a-lifetime email address. This is the first time my email address has had fewer total characters than my current phone number (including the country code ...in Germany). That consideration alone makes the yearly price tag worth it.
Another factor was the product itself. HEY promises to be a radically different approach to email. Normally I would dismiss this as tech-babble, but the 37signals crew has been at this digital product development thing for 20 years. I must confess, the sheer morbid curiosity of discovering exactly what fresh new email features Jason Fried and DHH believed I should have added to my day-to-day life was significant enough to make me want to reach for my credit card and pay for an account.
Is it perfect? No. But so far, so pretty-darn-good.
The last — and most important — factor is what 37signals stands for and the philosophy that shapes their products. I'm a fan. The founders of 37signals have said that a business should treat its culture as a product; a product that needs to be cared for, tested, innovated and iterated upon. However, I would say culture is 37signals' most important product. HEY and Basecamp and the various books from 37signals strike me as vehicles for exporting 37signals' work philosophy to the wider professional world.
These products help encourage specific, healthy day-to-day work behaviors. In the context of a company, if these behaviors are practiced by enough people for a long enough period of time, they can influence the company culture. Influence the company culture and you can begin influencing people's home life and the time they spend with their families — and do so for the better.
Again, I feel 37signals' culture is its most important product. The philosophy that informs this culture is one that think is largely correct, and is one whose widespread adoption would serve to benefit countless professionals all over the world. So I hope to see the continued adoption of this philosophy towards work. And I think HEY is an exciting new vehicle to help further this adoption. I'm rooting for it to do well.
So here I am.
With a dope new email address.
And blogging.
For the first time.
Ever.
Because of course I am. I paid nearly 100-MFing-dollars for this damn thing. Failing to milk it for all it's worth would lead to a degree of self-loathing that my ego just can't withstand right now.
I love you.
-JKarl