I'm a developer and I dislike Google Groups. Do you know any normal people who use it? I haven't looked at Breeze but assume it would be worth $10 to most people who require that functionality.

A lot of my non technical friends use Google Groups. Other than a few extra drop downs during set-up, it seems to me that there's literally no functional difference in the two services.

I don't know how they can blatantly lie and tell buyers that they're better off with their $10/month service over the free Google Groups, but they seem to be getting away with it. Because they're 37 Signals and everything else they make is amazing.

I believe the price is $10, one-time (not $10/month).

What are the key differences between the two services?

I found myself asking the same question, and then found http://basecamp.com/breeze/compare. It seems that they're offering easier set-up in return for the $10.

The pictures helpfully clarify that Google Groups has a couple of extra dropdowns and a captcha to complete before sending your email whereas the 37signals minimalist credit card form has um... a couple of dropdowns and a long number to copy accurately.

Not to mention the processes are exaggerated, and outright deceptive.

Funny, why do we need to spend multiple steps "signing in" to Yahoo Groups, and not Breeze? Because, sorry, 37signals, the opening page for Basecamp Breeze is not "Create A List".

But I guess you need to exaggerate for effect (this is the same company that defended Apple against the "sequences shortened" lawsuits).

Oh, and "(1)", "(2)", "Create" on the Breeze create a list page...

Except that's not what the page looks like, is it? (https://breeze123.com/signup)

"(1), (2), (3), (4), 'Create'"... that's more accurate.

So... "look how many steps our competitors take, for their free offering. Ours is less steps (because we'll bundle several of them onto each page), so pay us $10 for that convenience, DHH needs a new supercar!" - sorry, I couldn't resist the snark, but this "marketing" is dishonest. And the blog entry as much so. In fact, I could sum it up largely as:

1) throw dart 2) if target hit, great, if target missed, retry step 1