4 ms·

37Signals and the Paradox of Success

20 points by dshah 19y ago

dshah 19y ago
This is way better than the original article. Takes a more detailed look at what might be going on over there. I think the key point (for me) was the notion that great developers like to build new things.
omouse 19y ago
What next new big thing? As has been said before, 37signals re-hashes old ideas. Backpack, Basecamp and Highrise contain many of the same features and barely contain new innovative things. They need to do something radically different.
davidw 19y ago
They've done a lot of cool things, and are very talented. However, I think that they "jumped the shark" when they charged $20... twenty dollars... for a PDF version of their book (that isn't really a book... no ISBN), and had the gall to tell Tim O'Reilly that in addition to everything else, they were going to reinvent publishing: http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/2006_04.html http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/2006_04.html His links are all broken, though... and I can't find the back and forth with O'Reilly, but basically he come across as very presumptuous - something I'd be willing to accept because he's right about certain fields (web programming, for instance), but something I'd look at with a more critical eye when he's talking about something he really doesn't know 100%.
- staticshock 19y ago
  that book is hardly part of their core business, and should be regarded as such
  - davidw 19y ago
    Exactly - that's why it felt like such a money grab. They raked it in for a few months, and then just let it go, free, on the web. How would you feel if you'd paid $20 for a PDF that was then let loose for free? $20 for a nice paperback might be ok, but a PDF? (FYI, I didn't buy it, but it just didn't strike me as the most upstanding way of doing business)
- omouse 19y ago
  Found the full article: http://web.archive.org/web/20070417081136/http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/000580.html http://web.archive.org/web/20070417081136/http://www.loudthi...

20 points by dshah 19y ago

dshah 19y ago

This is way better than the original article. Takes a more detailed look at what might be going on over there. I think the key point (for me) was the notion that great developers like to build new things.

omouse 19y ago

What next new big thing? As has been said before, 37signals re-hashes old ideas. Backpack, Basecamp and Highrise contain many of the same features and barely contain new innovative things. They need to do something radically different.

davidw 19y ago

They've done a lot of cool things, and are very talented. However, I think that they "jumped the shark" when they charged $20... twenty dollars... for a PDF version of their book (that isn't really a book... no ISBN), and had the gall to tell Tim O'Reilly that in addition to everything else, they were going to reinvent publishing: http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/2006_04.html http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/2006_04.html His links are all broken, though... and I can't find the back and forth with O'Reilly, but basically he come across as very presumptuous - something I'd be willing to accept because he's right about certain fields (web programming, for instance), but something I'd look at with a more critical eye when he's talking about something he really doesn't know 100%.

staticshock 19y ago
that book is hardly part of their core business, and should be regarded as such
- davidw 19y ago
  Exactly - that's why it felt like such a money grab. They raked it in for a few months, and then just let it go, free, on the web. How would you feel if you'd paid $20 for a PDF that was then let loose for free? $20 for a nice paperback might be ok, but a PDF? (FYI, I didn't buy it, but it just didn't strike me as the most upstanding way of doing business)
omouse 19y ago
Found the full article: http://web.archive.org/web/20070417081136/http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/000580.html http://web.archive.org/web/20070417081136/http://www.loudthi...