I should have clarified. This is not a book about the commercial photography of architecture. I think it's important though to expose yourself to all permutations of the genre though. I also feel it's critical to produce personal work that hones the vision and builds upon the craft. I agree there's a lot of crap in the book and while I am by no means a fan of Baan, I think it's still important to look at his work since so many architects seem to love him.
I could work in a bubble and probably do fine for the rest of my career, but I don't think I would enjoy it nearly as much.
BTW, Rod from Arca just sent me a Universalis to play with for a couple weeks. I love this little camera. I'm taking it out tomorrow on a Skidmore shoot. Photos and review to follow on the blog.