I 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?
I 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.
I 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).
This 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.
I can think of a few reasons why your point is not valid.
1) Who cares?
2) One perspective is that he was generous about sharing his opinion with HN. You, however, are accusing him of writing a DISHONEST REVIEW with the SOLE intention of MANIPULATING the reader into making a purchase.
3) Everyone is always selling something, you're selling a reputation of being the noble crusader of HN.
Incidentally..
1) For those who aren't as materially wealthy as you, a few dollars from an affiliate commission can be meaningful.
2) Aff link stats can be a useful metric of influence
I really don't understand that. It reads like 'shoot the messenger'.
I'm not selling anything Zack, I don't need to. HN is a resource and I don't like it when people treat resources this precious like just another thing to burn on the way to the top. I've spent a lot of time here trying to help and befriend people and it genuinely ticks me off when people play tricks like that.
It looked like that was your viewpoint and I strongly disagreed with it. If it had been anybody else my response would have been exactly the same.
I think no less of you because of that incident, in fact your response at the time was extremely candid and honest. To hold a grudge this long about something that you admit you needed being called out for is not consistent with that.
The 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.
Yup! 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.
22 comments
[ 64.9 ms ] story [ 1339 ms ] threadExamples: 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?
You could just add a disclaimer like: "I use Amazon Affiliate links to link to books I like."
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.
Now for the why of it?
The fact that the article got changed after I posted this doesn't make it any less valid.
1) Who cares?
2) One perspective is that he was generous about sharing his opinion with HN. You, however, are accusing him of writing a DISHONEST REVIEW with the SOLE intention of MANIPULATING the reader into making a purchase.
3) Everyone is always selling something, you're selling a reputation of being the noble crusader of HN.
Incidentally..
1) For those who aren't as materially wealthy as you, a few dollars from an affiliate commission can be meaningful.
2) Aff link stats can be a useful metric of influence
I'm not selling anything Zack, I don't need to. HN is a resource and I don't like it when people treat resources this precious like just another thing to burn on the way to the top. I've spent a lot of time here trying to help and befriend people and it genuinely ticks me off when people play tricks like that.
It looked like that was your viewpoint and I strongly disagreed with it. If it had been anybody else my response would have been exactly the same.
I think no less of you because of that incident, in fact your response at the time was extremely candid and honest. To hold a grudge this long about something that you admit you needed being called out for is not consistent with that.
Apologies for that.
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.