[akulavolk]

Another vote for the usefulness of this article. I run a small business and have a team that's spread out all over town, and the US.
Many of us who are small tend to rely on teams located in different places...maybe because we're not big enough to warrant an office and bringing everyone on-site. I work with a CPA in California, an artist in Boston, sales reps all over the company, manufacturing agents in Chicago, and I'm near Seattle. Most of the standard collaboration tools (especially those from Microsoft) expect that a team is all on the same network, or within the same company.
Google seems to "get" the new, more disconnected, nature of business today. And the "free" price is important for small businesses, too.
It was good to see how this works for Lifehacker. I'm plenty technical, but hadn't heard of Backpack or Campfire. Thanks for the good article.
My only two gripes with the "cloud-based" solutions: 1) they're not available if you're away from the net (on a plane, for instance) and 2) they don't always sync up perfectly with the iPhone/iCal/Address book combo. The above have their uses. I'd love to see better support for this from Apple and/or Google.

[lipbalm]

@akulavolk - I don't have a good suggestions for how to get the "cloud" onto the airplane or into those other disconnected times of our lives. However, Google appears to be addressing at least some of the offline issues with their Gears product.

As far your syncing gripe goes, take a looks at Spanning Sync (if you haven't already). Spanning Sync is well worth the price at $25 a year. It is currently serving as the "glue" between my Google info and my iSync/iCal info.

[Bluetankster]

Gina:
Are you really referring to Backpack or 37Signals other product, Basecamp? Some of the features you mention... milestones, message boards, integration are features of Basecamp.

[akulavolk]

@lipbalm
Thanks for the great feedback. No gripes. Just realizing that there are a few hurdles between where we are now, and the ideal: up-to-date access to all of my important data, on all of my devices, whether I'm currently online or not.

Google Gears will get there, but isn't there just quite yet. For one thing, it doesn't support Safari. Gears/Docs have improved a lot of late, though. They just added beta support for offline (Gears) Docs in Google Apps, which is important for those who use Gmail at their own domain via Apps. Gears won't help with Address Book or Calendar, I don't think. And I can't edit Google Docs on the iPhone (yet). Mail works via IMAP with gMail, so that's covered, and MobileMe just added Gmail address book syncing.

I tried SpanningSync, but:
a) I ran into a number of bugs or technical problems with it including it deleting or duplicating my calendar entries. BTW, I LOVE Time Machine now.
b) It ONLY tries to solve the problem of iCal <- - -> gCal.
c) It's not $25 for the software...that's a yearly license. It's $65 to buy the software. Since I fully expect Google or Apple to integrate this feature in the near future, that's too much money for simple sync software.

MobileMe may solve some of this over time. Here's hoping we get full syncing between Google's and Apple's calendars, address books, etc.

[edeskonline]

eDeskOnline is a quasi Web operating system. This gives you the advantage of working upon a virtual computer; a machine that does does not require any software installation or downloads. Rather, the service is offered in the form of 'software as a service'. The working screen will be like any computer working screen that you are used to. It is used for personal productivity. It is somewhat like Microsoft Office: but with one important distinction: it is is completely online.

[ssimon]

Hi
I will be commuting from Washington DC to New York on the Amtrak Acela train and was wondering if Macworld readers had had any experience in the northeast corridor with any of the cellular networks discussed in this article. I have a MacBook Pro running 10.5.4 but expect to get a MacAir shortly.
Many thanks
S

[flyboy_34]

I've been using computers since 1957 and still am finding out new/different programs. THANKS for the wonderful lesson on how to improve our resources - I've been there, done MOST of these things and some day I'll get that t-shirt that says "I know it all".
Respectifully
Fred

[johnpeilow]

@ gs3369: I agree that most of the apps listed are major biggies and as such while they are good apps make this article a little bit useless to advanced internet users looking for new productivity apps.



@orsburn : I agree Basecamp would be a better suggestion than Backpack in the role of Project Management. We use teamwork project and love it!

@graeme smith : As an internet app Google Docs is miles ahead of the competition, it still doesnt show word documents like they are in real word so none our team actually made the jump. The only time we would use it is if we were in a complete bind and OpenOffice.org wasnt available to us.

[ivassilis]

Nice article. For personal productivity, I'll keep using MobileMe (I have Jobs's upper standard edition :) but for shared work, Google applications are the new standard. Google should develop a Campfire webapp too!

[rschmidt]

If you would like to use Backpack and aren't always online you can still use it offline and keep things in sync with a Mac application called PackRat. Check it out at http://www.infinitenil.com/packrat

[stomptokyo]

I'd love to see a follow-up article discussing the particulars of your uses of Backpack. So much of the usefulness of 37signals products lies not in the features they offer, but in the flexibility and simplicity of the overall product -- and the different ways in which people exploit that flexibility. Please give us a peek behind the curtain at the ways you've hacked Backpack to your own needs. Thanks!