4 ms·

2009 Prediction: Microsoft buys 37signals for $300 million

6 points by fnazeeri 18y ago

cperciva 18y ago
Flagged for bogus title. I know it's the same as the title of the linked article, but hypotheticals and predictions ought to be clearly marked as such.
- fnazeeri 18y ago
  Woops, my bad. Fixed. I just assumed the title was so preposterous that folks would get the joke. It wasn't meant to mislead. Thx for the note.
  - cperciva 18y ago
    Thanks, I've unflagged the story now. :-) The title was preposterous, and when I saw it I was very skeptical -- but I've seen stranger stories which turned out to be true, so I wasn't completely sure.
parenthesis 18y ago
Hmm, would pulled-up-by-their-own-bootstraps, Mac-loving, RoR-open-sourcing, 37signals really want to sell to Microsoft? To be fair, that's why the prediction is for a $300 buy even though 37signals' revenue is 'only' ~ $8million.
- tlrobinson 18y ago
  To be fair, that's why the prediction is for a $300 buy even though 37signals' revenue is 'only' ~ $8million. Well, that's why this prediction won't come true. 37signals won't sell to Microsoft barring some astronomical price, and Microsoft won't pay said astronomical price for 37signals.
mdasen 18y ago
So, why 37signals? 280 North likewise makes web applications well and their Objective-J model is better for making applications (vs. web pages with ajax) than 37signals' model. 37signals is great, but they don't make competitors for things like Visio or PowerPoint. 280 North is in that arena. And Objective-J wouldn't be hard to swallow for Microsoft. They'd have to replace the widgets with less Apple-esque ones, but it wouldn't be too hard. And it would give them a base akin to Google's GWT. Microsoft probably does need to get into the webapp world, but 37signals doesn't compete with Microsoft's lineup and Rails really isn't the toolkit to create a Visio-killer.
- tyler 18y ago
  Who is 280 North? I think you're missing the point the author is attempting to make. 37Signals is a well-founded company which has several applications, each generating revenue. It's also well-known. The points which the author purports would make 37Signals tempting to Microsoft do not apply for 280 North.
- mikeryan 18y ago
  "and their Objective-J model is better for making applications (vs. web pages with ajax) " I'm sorry but adding an abstraction layer on top of javascript doesn't make it better then javascript.
  - jamongkad 18y ago
    I tried learning Objective-J when it first came out. It was nice and all but I couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that I could be writing this app in Javascript + jQuery.
- mwerty 18y ago
  I doubt Microsoft has trouble creating languages - if anything they'll buy the brains.
ajkirwin 18y ago
Never happen. I call complete bullshit on this prediction.
viggity 18y ago
For starters, I have a hard time seeing MS buying a ruby shop. Second - I have a hard time seeing 37 signals selling to MS

6 points by fnazeeri 18y ago

Flagged for bogus title. I know it's the same as the title of the linked article, but hypotheticals and predictions ought to be clearly marked as such.

fnazeeri 18y ago
Woops, my bad. Fixed. I just assumed the title was so preposterous that folks would get the joke. It wasn't meant to mislead. Thx for the note.
- cperciva 18y ago
  Thanks, I've unflagged the story now. :-) The title was preposterous, and when I saw it I was very skeptical -- but I've seen stranger stories which turned out to be true, so I wasn't completely sure.

parenthesis 18y ago

Hmm, would pulled-up-by-their-own-bootstraps, Mac-loving, RoR-open-sourcing, 37signals really want to sell to Microsoft? To be fair, that's why the prediction is for a $300 buy even though 37signals' revenue is 'only' ~ $8million.

tlrobinson 18y ago
To be fair, that's why the prediction is for a $300 buy even though 37signals' revenue is 'only' ~ $8million. Well, that's why this prediction won't come true. 37signals won't sell to Microsoft barring some astronomical price, and Microsoft won't pay said astronomical price for 37signals.

mdasen 18y ago

So, why 37signals? 280 North likewise makes web applications well and their Objective-J model is better for making applications (vs. web pages with ajax) than 37signals' model. 37signals is great, but they don't make competitors for things like Visio or PowerPoint. 280 North is in that arena. And Objective-J wouldn't be hard to swallow for Microsoft. They'd have to replace the widgets with less Apple-esque ones, but it wouldn't be too hard. And it would give them a base akin to Google's GWT. Microsoft probably does need to get into the webapp world, but 37signals doesn't compete with Microsoft's lineup and Rails really isn't the toolkit to create a Visio-killer.

tyler 18y ago
Who is 280 North? I think you're missing the point the author is attempting to make. 37Signals is a well-founded company which has several applications, each generating revenue. It's also well-known. The points which the author purports would make 37Signals tempting to Microsoft do not apply for 280 North.
mikeryan 18y ago
"and their Objective-J model is better for making applications (vs. web pages with ajax) " I'm sorry but adding an abstraction layer on top of javascript doesn't make it better then javascript.
- jamongkad 18y ago
  I tried learning Objective-J when it first came out. It was nice and all but I couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that I could be writing this app in Javascript + jQuery.
mwerty 18y ago
I doubt Microsoft has trouble creating languages - if anything they'll buy the brains.

ajkirwin 18y ago

Never happen. I call complete bullshit on this prediction.

viggity 18y ago

For starters, I have a hard time seeing MS buying a ruby shop. Second - I have a hard time seeing 37 signals selling to MS