One Simple Backpack

With the past overwhelming success of various community Web sites such as Myspace, it isn’t news that people like to post their lives online. However, if you are searching for a way to post pictures, keep track of contact information and view what’s happening in your life without everyone you’ve ever known searching for you; 37signals may have a Web site for you (also check 37Signlas’ Campfire post)

Backpack is Web-based organization tool that allows you to keep track of all of the little things that you cover your computer screen in post-it notes for. If you are planning an event or looking to make a big purchase, you can upload comments, notes and pictures to your Backpack site. Adding pages to your initial Backpack site assists you in reviewing several projects at once. Once you get your Backpack site filled up with items that you want to track, you can send reminders, pages or pictures to your mobile phone or you can invite a friend to view your page. Viewing access can also be taken away if desired, making Backpack as private or as public as you wish.

There is a free Backpack account that allows you to have up to five pages but it does not offer storage or SSL security. Upgrading can cost between $5-$14 dollars per month. There are more advantages to having an account upgraded such as having your pages ad free, more pages, storage and security, and upgraded accounts also have access to the Backpack calendar. The calendar tool is probably the most useful portion of Backpack because you can send alerts to your mobile phone.

I’m not convinced that Backpack is worth paying the money since many people now have calendars, alert tools and picture capabilities on their phone or already uploaded to another Web site probably for free. Yet, Backpack does offer some simplicity and privacy and would be a good site for someone to get started online if they’re an Internet newbie.

Play with it at www.backpackit.com