Just finished reading Rework by 37signals, here’s what I think | Hacker News Reader

Just finished reading Rework by 37signals, here’s what I think

narekk.com

14 pointsprgmatic22 comments

Wow, did not think people would get offended by that. Amazon link has been removed :)

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.

Would love to here what others thought about the book as well.

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.

Off 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

I think that physics class was the highlight of our freshman year :)

Would love to read an review without a referral link at the end.

That's just a thinly veiled amazon partner ad, including the 'bait' about page 241 and the 'get it today' link at the end.

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).

Jfornear, my review was well intentioned. But I've removed the link anyway.

I 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."

I made the same argument against these ads when a prominent VC used them and the hackers here jumped to support him.

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.

Thanks for the suggestion.

+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.

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

And you're still upset about being called out.

With YOU personally for calling me out? Yes, unfortunately. With being called out? No, I needed it.

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.

You're right. You've also helped me observe weaknesses in my character that should be addressed. Thanks.

And I should have probably vented my frustration in an email to you instead of in public.

Apologies for that.

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