Screw perpetual beta. The concept is childish. Release 1.0 - well, never buy release 1.0. But beta? Beta is fun for the insiders, cool for the geeks; but, beta is risky, buggy, and bad for bidness. If you have a product that meets a need, get it out there. Release it, buff it up, support it, and move on to the next product. Just don’t call it "beta." Beta is TwenCen sys-speak for "too buggy to sell, too early to support."
The cult of perpetual beta has a point that they’re trying to make: Don’t wait until its perfect to put it out in the open. No more closed
invite-only betas. "Your idea of perfect may not jive with your users’
ideas of perfect. Put whatever you can out there and get people using
it as soon as possible. Feed them daily with new features to keep them
interested and coming back. No one likes waiting six years for new
releases." But that point, the point about getting it out there early and commiting to continuous improvement is not about beta.
Let’s call it "early release" and "product release." Or something. And what about Technorati? Writing students are taught that they have to be willing to kill their favorite offspring. Who’s going to let the Technorati guys know that it’s just about time to put a fork in it and move on?
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beta means never having to say you’re sorry.