Apple recently posted an iPhone update which, among other things, adds an “iTunes” icon to the iPhone home screen.

I love where they put it. They didn’t put it where consistency tells you to put it. That would be on the left side. They put it where context tells you to put it. On the right side right above the iPod icon. Even the icon’s arrow points right down to the iPod.

A few other observations… This is currently the only button on the screen (perhaps besides the SMS button) that makes Apple any incremental money. Setting it off by lining it up on the side really makes it stick out. I think that had something to do with the decision. It’s also the only icon in purple. It really stands out. I think that was intentional too.

Anyway, I love that Apple favored context over consistency in this design decision. Consistency is the easy choice. Context is the thinking choice.

A week ago we announced the SEED Conference. We’ve sold over 100 seats so far and only about 20 seats remain. If you want to attend, you’ll want to act quickly.

Visit the SEED Conference site to find out more and get yourself a seat for $399.

We look forward to seeing you on Oct 29 in Chicago.

José Bonnet asks:

How do you handle the pressure to grow?
Do you keep just saying ‘No!’?

I love this question because it’s one we get a lot. I also think it gets to the root of what growth means and how it’s perceived.

Let me say upfront that I may be interpreting José’s question incorrectly. I’m assuming he means hire more people when he says grow. I assume he’s talking about the physical space the company takes up.

Here’s the answer to the question I think he’s asking: No, we do not feel pressure to hire new people in order to grow.

Growing without “growing”

Just about every journalist I’ve talked to recently asks about the growth at 37signals. “You’re still just 8 people, how do you plan on growing?” “When will you begin to really grow the company?” “Why have you decided not to grow the company?”

The answer is always the same: We are growing, but not physically. You can grow without “growing.” In fact, I think it’s a healthier path.

Our customer base is growing. Our revenues are growing. Our customer satisfaction is growing. Our product offering is growing. Our integration options are growing. This is the kind of growth we want.

How you grow is up to you

We’ve intentionally set up our business so our headcount doesn’t need to grow linearly with our key business metrix. We’ve put self-serve at the core of our company. Self serve sign up, self serve upgrade, self serve downgrade, self serve cancellation.

We’ve been constantly tweaking the UIs for the apps to make them even more self sufficient. By making things clearer and simpler we make help/support less necessary. We’re obviously here to help people when they need help, but we’ve seen significant growth in our customer base without significant growth in customer service requests. This is the biggest payoff of simplicity and clarity. Less confusion and frustration for our customers, and less time and fewer company resources required to explain away bad design decisions, confusing features, and missed expectations.

Most companies need to continue to hire to generate/sell new business, service custom/key clients, handle a mountain of customer support inquiries because of the complexity inherent in their products, etc. We aren’t that kind of business. And I would recommend that if you are building a business – especially a web-based software business – you don’t build one of those businesses either. They’re rife with pressures to “grow.”

This is a bit of a “if a tree falls in the woods…” question, but I think it’s interesting nonetheless.

Innovation is defined by creation, but I wonder if it’s possible to be innovative by standing still.

If everyone else is doing something new, and you are sticking with what you’ve got, are you being innovative? Can you be innovative by not changing a thing?

For example, Kottke has a piece on the return of the housecall. The doctor even says “I’m a new kind of physician.” Is that innovative? Housecalls used to be the norm, and now here’s a doctor that’s doing it again. Sounds innovative to me in today’s context, but is it actually innovative? Or is it just a return to something that works?

Now, this doctor is bringing some innovation in the form of video and instant messaging, but if a doctor has been doing housecalls for 30 years, and everyone else was requiring an office visit, and then housecalls are back in vogue, is that 30-year-housecall doctor innovative?

I know this doctor example isn’t a perfect example, but hopefully it’s a good baseline for discussion.

So what do you think?

I’ve been listening to Bloomberg Radio a lot lately (it’s 130 on Sirius if you’ve got it). I’m really impressed.

I’ve always been a bit of a stock market/finance junky. An inordinate number of my dreams contained scrolling tickers (and I swear they were in color). That stopped a few years ago, thankfully.

I’ve seen my share of CNBC, I’ve read my share of the WSJ, and I’ve picked up financial news in a lot of other places too.

But I’ve never been as impressed with the depth, approachability, accuracy, clarity, and overall presentation of the financial news as I have been with Bloomberg Radio. They explain things clearly, they make sense of detailed and confusing topics, and the voices have a careful, pleasent calm that belies the chaos of the markets themselves.

This is good radio. If you can pull in Bloomberg Radio you should give it a listen. Even if you’re not a finance junky, you stand to learn a lot and experience real quality programming.

On Monday, October 29, 2007 in Chicago, Jim Coudal, Jason Fried, and Carlos Segura will lead a presentation and discussion on design, entrepreneurship, and inspiration. We’re calling this one day event the SEED Conference. Attendance is limited to 135 people and the price is $399.

What you’ll learn

You’ll learn about taking control of your own work, seeking out methods to inspire new ideas, and adopting unconventional ideas about collaboration and business.

Who should attend

You should attend if you’re a designer (print, web, video) or a business-minded soul who’s looking to take your creative ideas and turn them into something satisfying and bankable. Anyone creative with an open mind will take away something useful.

The format

The format will be comfortable and open. Some lectures, some networking, and ample time for questions, discussion and interaction. This is a day of active learning, not just idle listening.

A wonderful venue

The venue will inform the discussion too. The auditorium at the Rem Koolhaas designed McCormick Tribune Campus Center was built with new ideas and is set amid the historic Mies-designed campus of IIT.

Bonus “Working-lunch”

A catered “Working-Lunch” will feature a talk about the IIT Campus and Mies van der Rohe by Public Radio host, architecture critic, and Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, Edward Lifson.

Sign up quick

With only 135 seats available, and three in-high-demand speakers, seats are sure to go quickly. Get more info and sign up today.

David

Currently keynoting RailsConf Europe in Berlin (Notes from his keynote).

Jason

Keynoting the MIMA 2007 Summit in Minneapolis, MN on October 3rd.

Storytelling at the BIF-3 Collaborative Innovation Summit in Providence, RI on Oct 10-11.

Ryan

Speaking at the Future of Web Design conference in NYC on Nov 7.

Want us to speak at your event?

We’re available to speak at your event, workshop, or conference. Topics include Getting Real, conceptual interface design, Rails/programming, collaboration strategies, and entrepreneurship. Just get in touch by emailing email [at] 37signals.com with details. Thanks.

Ryan’s lightbox post sparked a lively debate about the feature, influence, opinion, and contradiction.

After one person pointed out that Matt said he liked something that was sorta “Lightboxy” and Ryan didn’t like Lightboxes, another commenter said:

I’d honestly love to see a post on how you guys handle some of the contradictions you make in public.

I’m really glad he asked because this topic has been on my mind for a long time.

The answer is simple: People are contradictory. You are, I am, he is, she is. People from all walks of life, work, and belief contradict themselves, their leaders, their mentors, and their friends constantly.

We’re all human and we all change our minds—hopefully. Those who don’t change their minds, or who aren’t influenced by other minds, are frozen in time. They’ve declared: “Learning is over, I know all there is to know.” That’s sad.

My sixth-grade science teacher, Mr. Blackburn, once told me “Never believe yourself to be completely certain of anything.” The only thing I’m certain of is that he was right.

So what if Matt may says one thing, Ryan says another, and a few months later Matt or Ryan changes their mind or perspective? They may agree today and disagree tomorrow. I may believe something today that I don’t believe in 3 days. And 3 days later I may go back to the original belief. That’s how it should work. That’s normal.

As a company, we don’t believe there’s anything wrong with that publicly or privately. We believe it’s healthy. Adaptation based on new information or perspective is a healthy part of learning and growing—as a person or collectively as a company. Continuing to refine your opinion is A Good Thing. It’s all part of figuring things out over time.

Statements are about now, not about forever.

Resist the urge to be afraid to say something today because you said something else yesterday. Say what you want to say. Don’t be afraid of those who are ever-armed with the critical spotlight ready to call out your contradictions. Be proud that your mind is still open to new discoveries and possibilities.

The Morning News has a a great piece on Martin Klimas, an artist that uses sound to capture movement.

I drop the figurine from the same height in complete darkness while the lens of the camera is open. When the figurine hits the ground, the sound triggers the lights to go off for a fraction of a second.

The moment of impact is poetic:

Read more and see more at The Morning News.

We’ve been writing software at 37signals since 2004. About a year later I bought a new place that came with a little backyard garden. Over the past few years I’ve seen patterns in curious places. Growing plants and building software have a lot more in common than I ever thought.

Plant spurts

When you have a garden one of the things you start to notice are the seasons. I mean really notice the seasons—and micro seasons. Instead of winter, spring, summer, and fall, you notice hibernation, sprouting, prolific growth, rest, growth, rest, flowering, rest, reproduction, transformation, rest, hibernation, etc. If you watch closely you can tell when it’s working on its roots or its flowers or its leaves. If you watch closer you can tell if it’s passive, aggressive, stubborn, clever (vines are really clever), etc.

Software spurts

It recently dawned on me that software grows much in the same way that plants grow. New features are the flowers of the software world. And just as most plants aren’t flowering all year long, software isn’t sprouting features all year long. There’s flowering season. There’s new feature season. There’s infrastructure season.

Sometimes software is working on its roots. Bolstering its infrastructure. It’s growing underground where the public can’t see it. It looks like nothing’s happening, but there’s really a lot going on. Without those roots new features can’t sprout.

And sometimes it’s rest time. Plants rest in the winter. Software often rests in the summer (it’s too nice to work too hard in the summer). Everything can benefit from a deep breath, relaxation, and sleep. Chaotic constant growth and change doesn’t make room for order and organization. Growth requires new energy and new energy requires rest.

Cycles

It’s the downtimes that make you appreciate the uptimes. Winter gives way to spring which leads into summer. When you start to see shoots, new leaves, and nascent blooms you start looking forward to bigger flowers, more growth, wider coverage.

When software’s been resting for awhile, and something new blooms, you look forward to more updates. Development season takes hold, attention gathers, and things start happening. This week there’s improved search, next week there’s a brand new feature, and next week there’s something great that’s entirely unexpected. Software gains momentum and change rolls into more change.

Then the whole cycle begins again.