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They are just a business trying to make a buck, and sadly, that is what makes them somewhat unique. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are "successful" and get a ton of press, but they've yet to make a profit. 37signals isn't afraid to charge for a product they know is great.

37signals is really good at making you realize how these web companies might not be the best business to get into. Could there be a bubble slowing building that will eventually burst?

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This is silly. There are thousands of websites that make money. The difference is, they don't go on and on and on about it.

The unique part is 37Signals seems to concentrate mainly on PR. They're not the biggest or best, they just shout the loudest.

"just a business trying to make a buck"" While true, that's a bit too reductionist for me. They are trying to make money their way, not by chasing whatever they see that might make most the money. Creating a profitable business is one aspect of that, but perhaps a larger aspect is that they are unusually open about their opinions on design, process, and usability, etc. This is a reason they are a bit polarizing and find detractors as well as fans.

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