"Simple works". Which is why they created everything with Forth on Rails. Oh wait... it's Tcl on Rails. No... Ruby? Ruby is not simple. It's actually a nice mix of elegance, simplicity and, where called for, fancy ways of handling complexity.
And they host everything on DOS. Because it's simple! No?
I think this stuff goes both ways... you can't just wave "simple!" around.
If you really wanted simple, you'd use a pencil and paper.
Uhm… How about trying to see the difference the product and implementation details? Cars are simple you know: turn a key, step on the gas and you ar going. Does anyone claim that those dozens of CPU hidden under bonnet and AT gearbox is simple?
Did you read his conclusion?
The book is rescued by a thread of ideas that focus on one theme - that less ambitious, more straightforward products can often beat 'better' products. And, this time, they give good examples - of the recent uptake of simple fixed-gear bikes, and the popularity of the flip phone
Maybe it's not you that needs to change but how you fit in with the dominant early-bird culture.
My own experience suggests changing personal behavior, much less personality traits, is an uphill struggle that requires substantial effort. Gaius is right on the 30 days to make a habit theory...
As an experiment, I tried changing a life-long habit: from the time I carried a wallet, I always put it in my back left pocket. Did it without thinking. Always put my keys in my left front pocket (without thinking). I started putting my wallet in my right-back pocket, and my keys in my right-front pocket. It took a looong time to break myself of the habit. It was so easy to use the left pocket that I'd do it without thinking, and realize what I had done minutes later. After a while, it got easier, but I would still regress if I didn't pay attention. Now, putting the articles in my right pockets is reflex, but every once in a while I slip...
It has taken years to get to this point, and it was a learning experience: I'd read all the '30 day habit' books too. I guess it's easy to start a NEW habit, but changing an existing habit is hard work.
The question seems to center around the universal problem of mediocrity through popularity. It's not unique to the 'net. In the early 80s a flood of frat boys and party hounds invaded Dead tour and pretty much destroyed a truly beautiful thing. There's a similar trend happening at Burning Man. Pop culture visibility tends to dilute unique subcultures to the point of obscuring the original flavor.
Active mentoring of appropriate behavior and a willingness to exclude offending users seems to be the only way to preserve the culture. But if you take that approach too far you run the risk of becoming elitist and self-righteous.
Openness has a real value and very real risks. I like the "benevolent moderation" idea suggested by murrayh the best...
Coming from the inside of the enterprise web publishing world I'd suggest it's not 37signals that is missing something.
Of course the author (of the review) did found a chain of restaurants...