In the middle of this article about How Jason Fried Works, I read the best summary ever about why software and websites tend to get worse over time as they gain more customers…

I spend another good portion of my day thinking about how to make things less complicated. [You could sum up Jason Fried's philosophy as "less is more." Except that he hates that expression, because, he says, it still "implies that more is better." Fried prefers "less is less."] In the software world, the first, second, and third versions of any product are really pretty good, because everyone can use them. Then companies start adding more and more stuff to keep their existing customers happy. But you end up dying with your customer base, because the software is too complicated for a newcomer. We keep our products simple. I’d rather have people grow out of our products, as long as more people are growing into them.

Jason, you’d rather have people “grow out” of your products rather than keep them prisoner for life?  Brilliant design principle methinks.

Jason Fried started 37 Signals, a company of radical bad-assery.  I’ve been using Basecamp, their flaghsip project management software, a ton lately.  And just stumbled upon Haystack yesterday.  What will these dudes think of next?

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