Ben went and bought 37signals's book "Getting Real." He thought it was really good and suggested I read it.

I'm glad he did. This book is magnificient. It struck a major chord with a part of me that has always thought that there are lots of aspects of web development that are so wasteful. It's a treat that a company this successful shine a light on areas of truth and clarity that can so easily get forgotten.

Everybody who works anywhere near the web should read it, some bits I particularly loved:

"Do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to everyone else. Instead of oneupping, try one-downing. Instead of outdoing, try underdoing."

"If you can't build your version one with three people, then you either need different people or need to slim down your initial version."

"Beware of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to web app development. Throw in every decent idea that comes along and you'll just wind up with a half-assed version of your product. What you really want to do is build half a product that kicks ass."

"Here's an easy way to launch on time and on budget: keep them fixed. Never throw more time or money at a problem, just scale back the scope."

There are so many more. Thanks Ben, it's almost essential reading and I urge anyone interested in web development to read this book...