snarky's machine 11 May 05

“Welcome to the Real world guys.”
kinda snarky there J…

JF 11 May 05

Get Real. There are a pile of apps on the net today that have been in public beta for 1+ years. That’s ridiculous.

People expect change. Launch for real and change in the wild. Have some faith in what you’ve developed. Beta is a label that means “things aren’t finished yet, things can go wrong, and this doesn’t do everything we want it do yet.” Things can and will always go wrong and your product will never do everything you want it to do — that’s why you continue to develop it.

Get out there and improve constantly. If you are asking the public to put their time in on your product, give them a real product.

Ramin 11 May 05

I guess that’s why we never saw a Beta version of Backpack. Not sure if it would’ve made a difference to me if the “beta” keyword was in the title or not, but for those paying customers, I’m sure it does make a difference. I’d be more willing to pay for a service that wasn’t in beta. So I agree with Jeff on this one. Leave the beta out.

8500 12 May 05

I think a log of apps use the perpetual Beta as a for sale sign. It means we haven’t finished the product as per our original brilliant ideas but if you provide a truck full of cash we can make this wonderful web application even better.

Devil's Advocate 12 May 05

So, just for the sake of argument, what do you consider the difference between launching a product in “Beta” and launching a product that you’re constantly making improvements too? Perhaps I can understand the idea of “Beta” wearing out its welcome after a year or so, but I can also say that something like Backpack really is informally in “beta” mode since there are improvements, additions and changes being made to it everyday. And also since you see to be saying quite frequently, “It’s only the first week,” or “You’ll be able to do that shortly…” etc. etc.

Just wondering how you differentiate yourself. And this isn’t meant as an attack, I’m just curious if it’s the gravity of the WORD you don’t like, or the way it’s often used as an excuse to keep things broken and/or not improve something.

JF 12 May 05

can also say that something like Backpack really is informally in �beta� mode since there are improvements, additions and changes being made to it everyday.

The idea of beta has always been that beta products are not ready for prime time. They aren’t release quality. That’s the difference.

We believe that when you release a product to the public, it should be release quality. Private beta, sure. Public beta, no.

When the public can you use your product with no obstacles then it’s a release, not a beta. Keeping the beta tag on there is a cover-your-ass method to distance yourself from anything that goes wrong. Own up to your product, don’t run from it.

Having something change every day doesn’t make it beta, it makes it better.

bort 23 May 05

oh for grid’s sake, relax. i can understand if the “perpetual beta” thing is a pet peeve— we all have them— but don’t act so fucking pompous.