This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about design, business, experience, simplicity, the web, culture, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago. Follow us on Twitter for more information on our products.

Capitalism, in a nutshell…as a a toy.

I vividly remember having one of those as a kid.

Brad: me too. I also remember taking the back off and the spring flying out. :) My Dad had to help put it back together.

Oh, so that’s what 37signals uses to process monthly invoicing.

:-)

And yep, I remember having one of those, too. What would the modern-day equivalent toy be? A touch-screen POS terminal?

I believe this is the new cash register which is pretty much exactly the same as 30 years ago. A perfect design then and now. No need for batteries. If you are ever in East Aurora, NY (south of Buffalo) be sure to take a tour of the toy museum. Lots of nostalgic stuff.

My 3 year old son plays with the same one I played with as a kid and loves it. He’s going to be a great cashier some day :)

That isn’t a toy…it’s a development tool.

What’s with the ‘guess why we made this post’ posts lately?

This is probably what the HP board uses to calculate their budgets.

njenney - no, 30 years ago, you could still choke on the coins - they weren’t quite as big, and they were wooden. See these http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-FISHER-PRICE-CASH-REGISTER-WOOD-W-COINS-PRIMARY-COLORS-MODEL-972-/220888755741?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336dfeee1d#ht_7642wt_1163

I think we’ll agree that, in hindsight, we should never have let Greece into the Orange Plastic Coin.

This post makes no cents…

This one is obvious. Look at the icons on the register. It is a subtle message about past and future products. A map to how 37s is going to get more of our money into their cash register. The first two are past products, the last is a future product.

Crayons = Draft Book = Rework Milkshake = 37s Ice Cream

Too easy.

When can we expect it on our local grocery store?

hmm…why no carriage return on those lines?

Crayons = Draft, Book = Rework, Milkshake = 37s Ice Cream

:D

More random shit from Mr Douchebag aka Jason Fried.

“More random shit from Mr Douchebag aka Jason Fried.”

Indeed

I agree.

37signals as definitely jumped the proverbial shark.

Yep, I too tend to agree with Anonymous Coward (but at least I’m not a coward) Although SVN is a great read, the random posts like this are definitely on the increase and certainly distract from the otherwise great content.

I want to know what’s in the till :) Monopoly money…

I remember playing with that toy as a child. Big, positive controls. Immediate feedback. It was something to be explored and learned.

I too am not shy to say that 37signals has really disappointed me in the past 10+ months.

Too much growth possibility.

Or lack of transparency that once was there.

Not sure, hard to say – but it’s definitely not the same and for the worse.

To add to my last comment, it might help to point out that the “mood” of other people feel the same way, negative, as noted at 37signals unofficial Get Satisfaction page.

In case you’re not aware, Get Satisfaction tracks users mood.

Need… context.

Is it that the register only offers 3 items?

Is it the lack of intuitive design on how to operate it?

Is it that the toy is still around but paper/coin money is becoming more obtuse with credit and debit cards, quick pay, and paypal type transactions? (I can imagine now… Fisher Prices “Credit Card Scanner!”)

Is it the overwhelm of 6 colors combined to make the design?

Is it that it is marketed well for it’s demographic no matter the questions above?

I like buying Fisher price toys only for kids and also for gifting when going for some b’day parties. transmission problems

Who cares? It’s either relevant to you and interesting or not. Whining that it’s not as interesting to you as it once was is sort of pointless (and cheap) and probably says more about you than the posts themselves… Which have always – I hate to break it to you – been somewhat of a rehash of quite widely stuff.

It’s not like they’re giving out horrible and uninformed advice in this post about dropping out of school or quitting your job or not reading books or anything…

pure and simple design – the cash register stripped to it’s core function.

I like the randomness. Makes you human.

Fisher price is the best option to buy for kids and to gift them and to make them happy. tarjetas virtuales