4 ms·
Just finished reading Rework by 37signals, here’s what I think
- prgmatic 17y agoWould love to here what others thought about the book as well.
- portman 17y agoI was surprised by the lack of intellectual rigor. It reads like a cross between "Chicken Soup" and "Dr. Seuss". Examples: the book is 288 pages but only 30,000 words; every other page is an illustration, and most pages are only 3/4 full; footnotes are rare, and usually reference some pop-biz online piece from Forbes or BusinessWeek. The final chapter (on culture) was very good. It's a topic that doesn't require any rigor to be effective. But the rest of the book was actually one of the more disappointing reads of the last 12 months. Edit: I'm sorry this is so negative. I really like 37sigs and Jason in particular. Maybe I had too high expectations?
- prgmatic 17y agoI agree on the lack of rigor, but I think this was intentionally written this way. I think one of their goals is to disrupt the reader's assumptions on what comprises a business.
- antirez 17y agoWould love to read an review without a referral link at the end.
- jacquesm 17y agoThat's just a thinly veiled amazon partner ad, including the 'bait' about page 241 and the 'get it today' link at the end.
- jfornear 17y agoI agree, but I think it's worth noting that there's nothing inherently wrong with using referral links (if your review is honest and includes a disclaimer).
- prgmatic 17y agoJfornear, my review was well intentioned. But I've removed the link anyway.
- jfornear 17y agoI don't doubt that, just keep in mind how sensitive "geeks" are when it comes to advertising, affiliate links, etc. :) You could just add a disclaimer like: "I use Amazon Affiliate links to link to books I like."
- fnid2 17y agoI made the same argument against these ads when a prominent VC used them and the hackers here jumped to support him.
- prgmatic 17y agoThis is true. The last thing I want to do is offend the community. I would use your disclaimer suggestion, but the few dollars that my Amazon link would generate is not worth offending HN readers. Getting feedback, creating discussions, and contributing to the community is more important here. Thanks for the suggestion.
- jacquesm 17y ago+5 to -3, that's got to be a record. Now for the why of it? The fact that the article got changed after I posted this doesn't make it any less valid.
- zackattack 17y ago
- prgmatic 17y agoWow, did not think people would get offended by that. Amazon link has been removed :)
- thesethings 17y agoThe rule says you're gonna hear more feedback when people are unhappy than when they're happy. So I thought I'd pipe in and say that I was totally aware of the affiliate link, and didn't mind it at all.
- prgmatic 17y agoYup! I think most people are in the same boat. My original intention was "OK, if my 2 cents about this book motivates someone to go out and buy it, I guess Amazon could share a few cents with me" but now I see that this lumps my review into the "sales" and "ad pitch" department.. and that is not what I intended. In any case, as you can see from my tumblr blog (narekk.com) I do not write or post much. I may, however, post meaningful things in the future. HN readers gives great feedback.
- whalesalad 17y agoOff topic, but wow I was surprised to open this link up and find that the author and I sat next to each other in 9th grade Physics :D
- prgmatic 17y agoI think that physics class was the highlight of our freshman year :)