This is Signal vs. Noise, a weblog by 37signals about design, business, experience, simplicity, the web, culture, and more. Established 1999 in Chicago. Visit the Product Blog for more information on our products.

Exciting!

Was this the project that you were inspired to finish this weekend?

Hi,

I continually hear things like this from the “agile movement ” – an excerpt from Getting Real :

“What might take a big team in a huge organization weeks to change may only take a day in a small, lean organization. That advantage is priceless. Cheap and fast changes are small’s secret weapon.”

I am genuinely interested in your opions on this (not trying to be inflamatory)... While yes, smaller can change faster, you are taking enormous risk especially when you bring financially related data and processes into the picture. I work at a large organization, and can understand why things like sometimes dirty words, “Requirements” and “Waterfall” and “sign-off” have to be done -> a single mistake from a developer who knows the system backwards and forwards, but misses one tiny detail, can cause drastic issues. Mistated financials, billing or payable errors, etc. are a big no-no and now even more taboo with Sarbannes Oxley breathing down public companies necks.

Bigger organizations also tend to have more secondary and backend systems pulling information from the core systems. The environment is more complex, and a single change that is “simple” to one system, can have a huge “web effect” impact down the line to other supporting systems.

We rarely take a long to time actually make a change – it’s understanding impact, and testing that take most of our “red tape” time. I’ll agree – paperwork and templates forced on developers DONT deliver impact & quality – only Time and Care do. But that Time translates to “slower” when looking from the outside.

I have also worked for a small programming company, and understand – if you can be smaller and faster, it’s a great way to keep up with constant demand. But in my view there are good reasons that bigger companies, especially public ones, have to maintain the controls that they do. With statements like the first sentence of the excerpt above, I think it is somewhat unfair to bigger companies who have a different plate of issues and more complex environments to deal with than “little guys”. Is there a better way? Maybe – I’d love to hear it.

Always looking to get better. :)

And by the way – I LOVE the content and discussions your site generates. Thank you for taking the time to try to better our industry.

Wow, now I have no excuse. Time for me to get readin’. After all these glasses on my face are there for somethin’.

I paid $19 for the cow and now the milk is free?

That hurts and will make me think twice before paying for your next book.

That solves my problem of bulk purchasing PDFs for my clients – thanks guys :)

That solves my problem of bulk purchasing PDFs for my clients – thanks guys :)

That hurts and will make me think twice before paying for your next book.

Eh, I’ve commissioned the purchasing of two site licenses, and I have no regrets. The advice was worth the money then, and it’s worth it now.

This reminds me of a Biblical parable: a vineyard owner offers hires workers at different times of the day, but offers them each the same salary (to which they each agree). At the end of the day, the morning hires grumble about not getting more money than the afternoon hires. The master admonishes them: they agreed to the salary, and just because someone else got a good deal doesn’t mean they’re being cheated.

You, the buyer, thought it was worth $19 back then. How does the seller offering a different version (HTML) at a different price (free) retroactively affect your purchasing decision? Sour grapes, my friend.

Read “offers hires workers” in the second paragraph of my post as “hires workers”.

The book is worth it.

free version in php? what no homegrown ruby cms? BookFire? ReadBoard? RealPack?

The PDF was well worth the $19, and I’ve wanted to share it with several clients and co-workers but they balked at the price of getting their own copy.

If people find value in what they’ve read, they’ll invest the money in getting their own copy. Heck, look at how this strategy has worked for the Bible!

I didn’t say if the book was worth it or not (i loved the book and the getting real workshop) and certainly didn’t mean to imply that i’ve been cheated. Just that now i’m less likely to buy the next one.

Next: Getting Real, the lunchbox – for sale for $9.95, on amazon.com, of course.

Interesting, that some people’s first thought is “damn, I paid for it and now it is free and I wouldn’t have to pay”.

Is $ 19 so much money. How many books do you buy that aren’t worth a dime. My first reaction was. Yeah, now I can tell everybody what is one of the most impressing book I’ve read in a long time.

And by the way, if you print it out it’ll take some time. I’m sure your time doing that is worth more than $19….

You, the buyer, thought it was worth $19 back then. How does the seller offering a different version (HTML) at a different price (free) retroactively affect your purchasing decision? Sour grapes, my friend.

But that’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying that, because of this experience, the next time 37signals releases a PDF for purchase, he won’t buy it. He’ll just wait for the free web version to come out.

“Since Lulu takes quite a cut, we’re pricing the book at $29.”

Maybe it’s just me, but this price seems extraordinary considering a 193 pages, the only “cut” Lulu is taking is around $8 per book (or so says their handy book-cost estimator). We published a 200+ page book in the same size through Lulu a few months ago, and we priced it at $14.99, pocketing about $7 per sale. So what gives? Is the book in full color? Are the pages gold-leafed?

At the price of $29, that’s a shocking markup, but perhaps you’re hoping to reach an price point equivalent to the pdf? Or is the point to disuade people from buying the paperback all together and go for the download?

Either way, I’m taken aback by the inflated price.

Pay Now. Read Now. Killer Argument.

Anyway. I think the 37s reached their guys already. Now they are trying to reach more by making it free.

The Strategy is OK.

That hurts and will make me think twice before paying for your next book.

Think of your payment as getting to read the thing almost a year earlier then everyone else.

I don’t normally jump in with random praise on here, but thanks guys, this is super cool.

So what gives?

If the price really is too high, they won’t sell many. Wait and see what the market bears.

Thanks for making the book available online! This allows me to refer more folks to it. A search against the book text would be nice.

But that’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying that, because of this experience, the next time 37signals releases a PDF for purchase, he won’t buy it. He’ll just wait for the free web version to come out.

That’s a valid point, and his clarification makes it more obvious. I was addressing the “hurt” he felt, attributing that to having “been hurt” by this.

Thank you, guys!

We published a 200+ page book in the same size through Lulu a few months ago, and we priced it at $14.99, pocketing about $7 per sale

Maybe you underpriced your book. Or maybe your content wasn’t worth $29. Or maybe your business costs are different. Or maybe the margins you want to maintain are different. Or maybe you don’t have employees to pay. Or maybe a million other things.

The easiest thing in the world is to tell other people what their prices should be, how much their margins should be, and what their costs are.

You sell what you want at your price. They’ll sell what they want at their price. But to be “taken aback by the inflated price”... Come on. Get over yourself.

Heck, if you made $7 on your book I think that sounds like an inflated price. In my mind you should only make $3 on your book.

I bought it, I read it, I liked most of it. But reading this post gives me the same feeling I get when my [insert big service provider here] does all sorts of things to land new customers and ignores the existing ones.

How about a free printed copy for early adopters? :)

I bought this book and all I got was a lousy $16.49 saved in time. And now I’m pissed!

This move is absolutely so damn smart it kills me. And I really did buy the book; it was absolutely worth it then and now. I often get something for free and still contribute money to the project just because it helped me out so much.

How much to get one that is autographed by Jason and David?

I was halfway through chapter 2 before I realised that I hadn’t even said thanks. People seem to have forgotten that its customary to say Thank You.

You guys wrote a book, and just gave me a free copy. Thank You very much :)

Des

Getting Real is the antidote to meetings. I bought a copy during a meeting and I haven’t read it yet. But each time I’m in a tedious meeting/presentation/conference filled with corporate-speak, I read another chapter and my sanity is restored.

Damn dudes -those of you crying -, I bet you haven’t bought an original CD since broadband was in your area then.

Legal issues aside, If you buy the new album of your favorite artist the day its released, you listen to it and you like it, a few weeks later you find it on the internet, do you say “damn, I could’ve just leeched it from !”?

I don’t think so.

Thanks, guys. This is wonderfully iconoclastic work for the internet era. Like others have mentioned, I think of ‘getting real’ every time I’m caught in another stupid meeting. Keep it coming!

Cool move. Thanks, guys.

Wow! Thanks, 37signals!

All I have done so far is a quick read-through, but I am incredibly impressed. I will definitely pick up a paper back soon.

Thanks again!

If you were happy to buy the book then, you thought it was a good deal for you at the time. Don’t be upset because someone else now is getting a better deal than you think you got. Just be happy that more can now share in the useful material, and becuase you purchased it way back then, you actually made it possible.

I bought the PDF , and will buy the lulu book so I can have a copy that I am allowed to share with others. Really, there is nothing like holding a real honest-to-goodness book when you want to absorb material.

I wish there was a discounted lulu paper book for us PDF buyers.

I also wish there was a combo PDF + Hardcopy book at a discount from the total similar to what Pragmatic Programmer’s do.

I also wish I could give the Book for Free to my friends.

1 out of 3 is not so bad. Good Experimental Move.

I got PDF version a couple of months ago. I’ve heard 2nd edition will be released soon. When can it be done? Hope to read…

I’ll skim it and if I like it I will purchase the paperback. I hate reading on screens for long stuff like books, plus I like having a hard reference to add to my library. Thanks.

I like the free via HTML model, but I would look forward to seeing how sales are affected when the primary distribution is PDF .

Thanks Guys. I bought the book and was able to use the concepts @ ebay right away.

I would’ve payed twice the price. The information and ideas are priceless.

I just realised another advantage of having the book in HTML form: by converting the HTML to a Plkr document, I can now read it on my Palm, which is more convenient from me than the PDF . And having already bought the PDF , I feel justified in sucking down the whole book into the format of my choice.

I just realised another advantage of having the book in HTML form: by converting the HTML to a Plkr document, I can now read it on my Palm, which is more convenient from me than the PDF . And having already bought the PDF , I feel justified in sucking down the whole book into the format of my choice.

finally a paperback! never bought the pdf, think reading is for the sofa or near the pool or something :p

anyways—i ordered this minute via lulu :) now let’s see how long it will take to this island.

lulu’s UI was very cool as well (would have been a bit odd if not): less than 10 clicks and my order was done and payed via paypal.

For those whinging, I think most of the ideas are gleanable through this blog already.

Thanks for the HTML copy too, now it can be shared more easily :)

Great stuff guys. An html version is my fav format. using the concepts in my day job and having positive results…thanks!

stevedave said: > Next: Getting Real, the lunchbox – for sale for $9.95

now that would be something i couldn’t resist! :+)

-bowerbird

p.s. since the book was just a collection of entries to this blog anyway, it always was “free on the web”...

What we need now is a Oblique Strategies Dashboard widget, but sourced from Getting Real. Or indeed, a gettingrealsnippets.com, inspired by textsnippets.

any project for translations?

Wow, thanks a lot for the free version! I start reading wright now. I’m also a huge fan of TaDa Lists. I hope in the future to be able to fully apply Getting Real in my small business.

I wish you well and all the best in the world for all your work!

37signals: you just blew me away, again. so with this free book you actually made over 370k US $ revenues, right? (23k x 16 = approx 370k). stunning success, you inspire me every day i must admit :) last week i came up with a best idea in the last 3 years and guess what – i am coming up with a super good web app ;) i wish u all the best and hopefully you’ll come to Germany or Estonia one day cause then I would offer you a free tour. stay real 37signals crew.

At the price of $29, that’s a shocking markup, but perhaps you’re hoping to reach an price point equivalent to the pdf? Or is the point to disuade people from buying the paperback all together and go for the download?

I doubt it was the goal, but it’s helping to save the environment too ;-) And, to be fair, most near-competing books in the sector cost in that range anyway.

I really like it, just bought the paperback version, no problem paying for something that is binded for me. No hassle with print options and pdf scrolling on a 17” TFT . Just a real book I can read while enjoying a nice beer on the couch.

But reading this post gives me the same feeling I get when my [insert big service provider here] does all sorts of things to land new customers and ignores the existing ones.

I hate to sound like an apologist, but to address the faulty logic: service providers run on a recurring revenue business model. Readers of “Getting Real” aren’t existing customers, they’re past customers, and the only recurring revenues 37s have (from the book) are new customers.

You’re entirely right that big service providers often wrongly pursue the elusive “new customer” rather than serve the proven (and paying) current customer, but that really doesn’t have a parallel here. It’s like accusing Apple of foul play for refreshing their product line just days after you bought your Mac. Tough titties, that’s how it works. They aren’t framing your invoice and throwing darts at it.

The book is great. The content is valuable and insightful.

But isn’t it a bit silly to call the entries “essays”? Many are single paragraphs, and most are much shorter than a newspaper opinion column. A more informative title would be “Getting Real: 91 tips for better software developement.”

If I were to buy a book of “91 Essays” and get this, I’d be dissapointed.

The litmus test…

I bought it – a year ago.

I recommended it to a friend who checked out the sample chapters and bought it on the spot – last week.

Today we’re both still happy. Way too much practical common sense for the $.

I’d err on the side of not releasing the free version – people (like me) take for granted what they can get for free. Oh well.

Kudos for releasing the free version though. All the power to you. Now my non-serious friends can get a better handle on 37S without having to endure my blithering.

A friend emailed me yesterday: “Glad I didn’t buy it earlier because now I can get it for free!”

I replied: “Glad I didn’t buy it earlier because now I can get it on paper!” (just ordered)

So thanks for the options, you’ve managed to satisfy mutliple markets :) And special thanks for the printed version, I’ve been putting off purchasing because I don’t like reading large amounts of text onscreen.

If less is more, why does the printed version have 190 pages? I dont see many putative essays that take more than a page, and many pages could handle 3 or 4 entries. Shouldn’t this have been a 75 page book tops?

Thank you 37signals!

How about a 4th format? I noticed most of your chapter subheads would make very good fortune cookie blurbs. I’d by a box or two.

Your passion — or lack of — will shine through The leaner you are, the easier it is to change Stay flexible by reducing obstacles to change Let limitations guide you to creative solutions Don't waste time on problems you don't have yet Decisions are temporary so make the call and move on Add slow to go fast Go for happy and average over frustrated and great What makes sense here may not make sense there More mature doesn't have to mean more complicated Be open to new paths and changes in direction

I spend sometime reading it online since the paperback is not available in my country. I’m looking forward of downloading the PDF format soon. Great work!

@Jay – if you read the book, in the introduction they explicitly state that their techniques may not be appropriate for larger enterprises, especially financial institutions. The focus of the book is basically on getting to version 1.0 (and beyond) of new apps, not refactoring existing systems.

I went to the Getting Real workshop in June and the attendees were “supposed to receive PDF via email” a couple of days after the seminar. I never got it and neither did some others in the class that I ran into. Any info?

Guys, nice work. Thanks for making this easy to read from anywhere.

Can we do one more format? Can I get an RSS feed of a rotating essay from the book?—not random, just each essay consecutively until you have to start again at chapter 1. This would make it 4 formats, and would “chunk” the book up to let people read it more easily in their newsreaders.

Just a thought from a paying reader. :)

At Lulu.com there is the possibility to give people discount who bought a pdf-file and want to buy a real book later. For example: when you’ve bought the pdf you get the book for only printing costs. I think that is a very good and reasonable model. I don’t mind having paid the 19 dollars for the pdf (it’s good stuff!), but i do mind having to pay 29 dollars to get the printed version.

Most of the time in cases like this you answer something like ‘you don’t have to do anything’, i hope you don’t do that this time.

Why not give the 23.000 early adaptors the chance buying the book for just the printing costs ans Lulu costs ? It doesn’t seem fair to have to pay 19 dollars twice.

Hi!

Which software did you use to write the book? Is it written in XML ?

Thanks

Jason, of the 23k PDFs sold, how many were full-price single copies, and how many were the 10-pack group license?

And, did you sell any larger-scale group licenses (100-packs, for example)?

hey - was wondering, what is 37 signals using to handle the e-commerce/purchasing part of buying the PDF ? - obviously a simple rails app … but how are they integrating the creditcard connection?

(and back on topic, I’m a happy PDF owner, who happily got a printed copy of my pdf from printfu—worked out great)