[timjahn]

"I really think Basecamp's homepage does a very poor job of communicating what it is."

That's great that you think that, but (and don't take this the wrong way), it's irrelevant. I'm fairly sure 37signals tests their design/copy/layouts and if this one wasn't working to make them more money, they'd tweak it as necessary.

[raylu]

While it may be the case that this version of their homepage has been tested to yield the best conversion, that seems completely irrelevant to my point: "the Basecamp homepage does a very poor job of communicating what it is".

[timjahn]

If the Basecamp homepage did a very poor job of communicating what it is, I find it hard to believe it would yield the best conversion.

[raylu]

You find it hard to believe that people would pay for things without understanding what they are? I don't understand your premise.

Do you honestly think the Basecamp homepage communicates what it is? As stated earlier, the description could apply just as well to Dropbox, MediaWiki, or Eventbrite.