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I really think it is amazing that people actually buy software.

If you hear a New Order track that's mostly electronic, it's generally come about through one person sitting at a computer and programming it.

You have to empower your sales staff to use their judgment and go beyond the standards set down on paper and by the computer.

Interleaf is very nice. I expect there to be a lot of competition for programs like that.

At Wal-Mart, if you couldn't explain an idea or a concept in simple terms on one page of paper Sam Walton considered the new idea too complicated to implement.

Not to go too far, but Microsoft is probably used by most people out there.

A lot of people assume that creating software is purely a solitary activity where you sit in an office with the door closed all day and write lots of code.

I think for Amazon's customers, it offers a kind of addictive service - the ability to shop without leaving your house, the ability to read without going to a bookstore or a library.

The problem, for me, with the writing programs is that they produce a terrible uniformity of product.

Customers buy Basecamp without ever having to interact with us. If they do have a question, we handle everything via email. We've been in the business of automation. We've never really valued full service.