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Are Betas Taking On Lives of Their Own?

Posted by Zonk on from the night-of-the-living-beta dept.

Ant writes "CNET News.com's Paul Festa thinks the final stage of software development, beta versions, are taking on a life of their own, as companies tinker endlessly with their products in public according to a recent article. Google is one of the companies that keep using "beta" term for years for its products."

13 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. agreed by qewl · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a bad idea to put two male betas in the same bowl as they WILL fight to the death..

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    (\_/)
    (O.o) This is Bunny. (> <)
    1. Re:agreed by MustardMan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wow, it's SO ignorant to take two animals, and let them do EXACTLY what they would do in nature. What kind of fucking horrible person would DARE let captive animals get a tiny taste of what it's like to exist in the the wild and not on a Wal-Mart shelf?

  2. In an hour by mrshoe · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll post the final version of my comment. This one is still in beta.

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    There are two types of people in this world: those that categorize other people and those that don't.
  3. This is not my final post.... by eggoeater · · Score: 1, Funny

    it's just my Beta... Look for my release candidate post next month. Final release date hasn't been determined yet.

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    $7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
  4. Of Course! by kaje103 · · Score: 2, Funny

    You beta believe it..

  5. Microsoft has done the opposite by Donny+Smith · · Score: 2, Funny

    >Google is one of the companies that keep using "beta" term for years for its products

    You can't claim the other way around doesn't work either.

    Microsoft has been shipping beta-quality products as "Final Release" for years and they've done sooo well for themselves!

    P.S. I don't really think so, it's just a joke.

    1. Re:Microsoft has done the opposite by Drantin · · Score: 5, Funny

      That would have been funnier with the comma over one word to the left...

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      Actio personalis moritur cum persona. (Dead men don't sue)
  6. In other news... by game+kid · · Score: 2, Funny

    As ICQ counted down the seconds to release "in 3..2..1" ardent enemies postpone event by screaming "I call bullshit." No word yet on whether the popular chat software will ever be officially released or whether proc6's head has exploded from this offensive post.

    More news at 5:00.

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    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  7. Lives of their own?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Good thing I already converted my betas to DVD...

  8. Et tu Slashdot? by Dorm41Baggins · · Score: 4, Funny

    It would seem even Slashdot is caught up in the Beta craze.

    http://developers.slashdot.org/faq/com-mod.shtml#c m2000

    ^_^

  9. Re:This makes the term meaningless. by Frogbert · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well Alpha is Latin for "Doesn't work" and Beta is Latin for "Still doesn't work"

  10. Oh Thank God.... by rasteri · · Score: 2, Funny

    This was the first article I saw when I woke up this morning, and for a minute I thought I'd woken up in Brave New World...

  11. Microsoft.. better? by chalkoutline · · Score: 1, Funny

    Speaking of beta versions, I found that not only did my 13 year old sister not know what MSN stood for (neither did any of her online buddys), but she assumed that the word BETA in the program's title bar meant 'better' thanks to the current trend in teenage moronic spellings.. I fear for our future.

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