I might be missing parts but where I first picked up on it was when Jason argued with TechCrunch’s Nick Gonzalez’s post about Mundu and their plans to charge money for their software (an iPhone chat application).  Jason feels strongly that expecting all software to be free is wrong (not a surprise since he makes a living selling software – and books and speaking to crowds and selling job listings and…).

Then Mike strikes back by trying to connect Feedlounge’s demise with 37signals penchant for giving business advice (like charging for software).  The whole thing is fairly ridiculous.  The comments from both TechCrunch and Signal vs. Noise seem to be overwhelmingly in favor of 37signals – also not a surprise considering how many 37signals fan-boys there are out there compared to the number of TechCrunch fan-boys (uh, that might be zero).

I’ve talked to Arrington before and he seems like a normal person.  When he pulls stuff like this I wonder if it’s almost a joke or experiment to him – or if it’s just a stupid ploy for page views (worked).  Maybe he’s actually annoyed by Jason and this is his payback – but I suspect Arrington has thicker skin than that.

While I respect the success 37signals has had and I think their approach to their business is pretty solid, I do think Arrington makes a decent, if not a bit extreme, point with this comment.  I do think 37signals sometimes promotes their approach to things (whether it’s their pricing model or their Getting Real philosophy) a little too broadly – many of the things they do won’t work at other companies.