We try to buy the best quality we can afford. I’m a big believer in supporting good craftsmanship, elegant design, and thoughtful products. So I don’t mind spending more on something that I think it great than saving a few bucks on something crappy.

And when you don’t buy a lot of stuff you can invest more in the stuff you do buy. Spend money on things that matter: Computers, monitors, software/services, and chairs.

That’s Jason Fried writing in a 37signals post “What do you want to know?”. But it could so easily be us. We are constantly surprised by the spendthrift nature of most companies. After leaving university I worked for a large multi-national electronics firm, developing air defence and air traffic management systems. Uncomfortable chairs, second hand desks, non-existent filing facilities and no air conditioning. A great environment for developing mission-critical software. Two years passed and we eventually started on the long upgrade to good furniture (and masses of filing space for all of those oh-so-critical 2167A documents).

Following my move to Inverness, I was once again plummeted into the abyss of creaking furnishings. It was therefore an objective of ours never to experience this again with our own business. Unfortunately, many companies we deal with still don’t get this – work doesn’t just get done, it needs people. Ultimately they’re the only resource that brings value to a business, so it’s surely obvious to invest in the working environment.

One tiny parting anecdote: I bought the first model 15” Apple Studio Display. It cost me something like £1,800 back in 1998. I sold it after upgrading to future models. But guess what? We bought it back. It now sits happily in Mark’s office connected to something Unix-y. It still works.