The Definition Of Beta
As of late, Google has taken a lot of heat over minor glitches in its Gmail service. Some bloggers have been producing lots of harsh comments out of their frustration with the isolated service interruptions.
While I fully appreciate the affliction associated with the brief absence of a necessary service such as e-mail, I'm going to take it upon myself to introduce a word to everyone's vocabulary: Beta.
Beta is one of the most important words of the computer age. But prior to the affiliation with software development, it held a long-standing role as the second letter of the Greek alphabet and flirted with various scientific terminologies.
As if that wasn't a solid enough resume, today's Beta is a constant reminder that the public testing of a product or service does not imply guarantees of its stability.
The aforementioned bloggers should take note that Gmail is a partially-public beta. As such, it should not be used to conduct business or be relied upon for time-sensitive exchanges of information.
Google has been conducting this public test of its e-mail service for a mere 2 years. Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1998, before Google was even a company, and it is still frequently plagued by bugs and outages.
While I fully appreciate the affliction associated with the brief absence of a necessary service such as e-mail, I'm going to take it upon myself to introduce a word to everyone's vocabulary: Beta.
Beta is one of the most important words of the computer age. But prior to the affiliation with software development, it held a long-standing role as the second letter of the Greek alphabet and flirted with various scientific terminologies.
As if that wasn't a solid enough resume, today's Beta is a constant reminder that the public testing of a product or service does not imply guarantees of its stability.
The aforementioned bloggers should take note that Gmail is a partially-public beta. As such, it should not be used to conduct business or be relied upon for time-sensitive exchanges of information.
Google has been conducting this public test of its e-mail service for a mere 2 years. Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1998, before Google was even a company, and it is still frequently plagued by bugs and outages.
1 Comments:
I have two Gmail accounts and can honestly say I have never once had any issue with them whatsoever. Beta status notwithstanding, all of Google's services have been very reliable, quick, and at times impressive in my opinion.
And by the way Bryan, this blog in its entirety is well-written, relevant, and full of very valid points. Keep up the good work.. /bookmark
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