I am starting to subscribe to some of 37signals' philosophy on web application development--with caveats of course. They published their thoughts into 91 essays organized into 16 chapters in a book titled, Getting Real.
My first concern, however, is that the philosophy will start influencing young, up and coming developers who haven't had the chance and experience to realize that the book needs to be put into context. For instance, I'm not sure that the following is 37signals' position, but, it seems to me that developing a more complex web app might require a little more than what's stated in the 91 essays. I admit that I could be wrong or simply be misinterpreting their thoughts, but, like I alluded to it above, I am just now starting to delve into Getting Real.
Disclaimer: The title of this entry does not imply that new and upcoming developers are dummies.