In 37Signals’ ubiquitious web app design philosophy book, “Getting Real,” they talk about “underdoing” your competition. “Do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to everyone else. Instead of oneupping, try one-downing. Instead of outdoing, try underdoing,” they write in big bold letters in the second chapter.
New York-based Davidville is probably best known for their excellent tumblelogging service Tumblr. But before Tumblr, they made a splash, albeit a smaller one, with Senduit, a file uploading service that’s stripped down to basics. Whether or not Davidville has read “Getting Real,” they certainly prescribe to some of the ideas laid out in that book.
Senduit is a very simple, and unadorned file uploading site. It is immediately apparent what the site does and how to get things done. There are no ads on the main page and there is no sign up required. Instead users are greeted by simple, two part instructions, a textbox for choosing the file to upload, a drop down menu for choosing when the file should expire, and a big “upload” button. That’s it.
Files uploaded to Senduit are automatically removed from the server in 30 minutes to 1 week depending on what you specify when you upload. Senduit accepts any type of file up to 100mb in size. During uploads, Senduit displays an “upload in progress” bar (which sadly, does not display actual progress — the only thing I wish the service did differently). Once uploaded, you are sent to a page with the URL for your file, which is short and resembles a TinyURL address. I.e., http://www.senduit.com/XXXXXX — where ‘XXXXXX’ is a random string of numbers and letters.
The download page is the only page on the site with any advertising. Downloads start automatically and Senduit’s servers are very speedy: I routinely get 1800-2000k/sec (note: I have a 20mbps connection, but even friends with slower connections report good download speeds on files I send through Senduit).
Conclusion
Compared to similar services like YouSendIt, DropSend, or the ad-cluttered MegaUpload, Senduit is a breath of fresh air. It is simple, clean, and exceptionally easy to use. There is certainly room for sites like YouSendIt and DropSend as well, which both offer premium services such permanent file hosting, branded services, and larger file size caps. But for quickly sending small to medium sized files, nothing beats Senduit.
