[britman]

For me I think it's actually a clever marketing move by DHH and 37 Signals to create a "stir" around the issue. My guess is they don't really care what Yahoo's reasons are behind it but are very pleased with the timing...you can't help but notice at the bottom of the post - Interested in learning more about remote work? Checkout our upcoming book REMOTE: Office Not Required.

[smw]

I think it's likely that you're missing a layer. The book is really just marketing for the DHH/37signals/RoR brand.

Developing that brand makes people more loyal to their products and ecosystem, which probably makes them a lot more money over the long run than book sales.