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Mo' Beta Testing Blues

Posted by timothy on from the plausible-deniability dept.

theodp writes "Wired picks up on the observation made by Jason Fried that more and more sites and tools are launching and remaining in 'beta' mode. Prominent sites like Google News, A9, Froogle, Friendster, Tribe, and Orkut all sport 'Beta' disclaimers. Is this to get users to do the testing, a subtle way of saying 'don't expect support', or simply a marketing ploy to generate buzz by making users feel 'exclusive'?"

2 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Games have this problem too by Bruha · · Score: 0, Redundant

    MMORPG's by far have been the most beta quality software I've ever had the experience to pay and test at the same time. I have played every MMO launched since Asheron's call as part of working for warcry news network and I can tell you you're always playing beta quality code.

    To be fair it may just be more of a "work in progress" than beta but still you have to live with the bugs or move onto another game which will be in the same situation.

    We've even named it. Playta

  2. Who cares! by luugi · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I really don't mind the fact that they call there product BETA. You don't have to download or use BETA software. Why are people complaining? Those products are free.

    Be patient and wait for the official release. Pretend the product never got released.

    --
    Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.