Comments on: “Beta”, Does Anyone Care Any More?

By: Andrew Faulkner

Andrew Faulkner — Fri, 12 May 2006 12:56:28 +0000

It depends how it’s used.

Some companies/individuals use the term beta willy-nilly. There’s no point. A beta site should offer info and the chance for the user to give their input.

Betas are a right mixed bag at the moment in my opinion, and judging by that conversation on the Gala at the moment they can be loved or hated. They are the Marmite of design/development trends. ;)

By: Johan Van Den Rym

Johan Van Den Rym — Fri, 12 May 2006 18:57:24 +0000

Beta is normally used for a stage in software development or a coding project which is not defined as stable yet.
When it is stable it gets labelled 1.0

http://alwaysbeta.com/ even carries that very name. A good webinfo site I think.

http://www.thedesignersnews.com/

it is counter-productive to use this way of announcement. People want to see the launch immediate, opposite for software or a competition ok: I can see that it can be a valid way.

By: Johan Van Den Rym

Johan Van Den Rym — Fri, 12 May 2006 20:12:15 +0000

another example: http://www.crazyegg.com/ stuck in beta

a fun example: http://alwaysbeta.com/ quite the opposite

By: P.J. Onori

P.J. Onori — Fri, 12 May 2006 21:07:55 +0000

Personally, I consider the term Beta to be intended to be a cover-you-ass strategy. If things aren’t working properly, you can say, “Of course they aren’t. It’s Beta.”. Honestly, I understand. Many of these betas are offered up for free and nailing down 100% of the bugs can be extremely time-consuming. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest - they’re getting something out there for people to consume. More power to them. :)

As for the promotional aspect of things, I would be ridiculously hypocritical if I criticized anyone for such tactics. People who are proud of their work usually want people to notice it. I agree, it can be annoying (yes, that included myself), but I have rarely seen it done (spam not included) without the best intentions. I’m really curious what people have to say about this.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 15 May 2006 00:15:51 +0000

For me, getting to work with a beta was like getting in on the ground floor. I tested a few games and loved being able to walk into a store when they came out and bragging to my friends “Oh hey, I played that 6 months ago”. For a week or two after the game came out I was better then everyone else at it too. Weeeeeeeeee

With products that never leave beta, it isn’t as exciting. It does seem like something done to cover the arse of the developer if something goes wrong. Or maybe they just forgot the Beta label was there.

By: Matt Davies

Matt Davies — Tue, 16 May 2006 12:46:37 +0000

I never cared and I never will. What ever blows your whistle - alpha beta or zeta…