Don't Be Fooled by Google's Phony 'Beta' Label
Just like Microsoft and many other software companies, Google designates a huge number of its many online services as beta, and many features as merely "experimental."
For example, did you know that Gmail is still in "beta," and has been in the "beta" stage of development for five years?
Some of Gmail's best features aren't "real" features, but designated by the company as "experimental." Gmail Labs launched in June, and since then the company has posted more than 35 "experimental" apps or features.
How much money has Google made from Gmail? The business model is and will always be an "attract users and sell advertising" proposition, regardless of when it arbitrarily chooses to remove the word "beta" from the Gmail logo. So what makes it "beta," exactly?
I'm proposing that we all stop taking Google's "beta" and "experimental" labels seriously, and just see them for what they are: Marketing gimmicks. Read more.
9:24 AM * PERMALINK * 4 comments
Comments:
Ughhh...Mike...this is not news...does anybody out there really care? We want more hard-hitting, gut-wrenching, important stories that hit us where we live....like more about Kathy Griffith and her superhot romance with the Woz...or more crazy USB devices that we will never, ever, buy (even though I DID try to find some place that sold that lavalamp usb device your showed to us).
So, um, Mike. Pal. Just a short question. After the first, say, six months of "beta" Gmail, didn't you stop taking it seriously then?
(Google argues that it's in continuous development, so that it may never lose the "beta" designation.)
There are, incidentally, aspects of your argument that are problematic. While Gmail is free, you can also pay for it. http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/details.html
Paying for otherwise free services from Google gets you some extra features and presumably tech support. So perhaps the question you ought to be asking is, is the Gmail you pay for also beta? Looking at the info on Google's website it appears that it is not.
Why don't you tell us about your real problem with Google...
And by the way, can you explain why you like so much twitter?
***** Why don't you tell us about your real problem with Google... *****
I am an opinion columnist who writes about technology and culture. One of the jobs of an opinion columnist is to look for myths or misconceptions widely shared among the public, and shed light on them so people can understand things they might not have otherwise understood.
My column is extremely clear about this. I point out the misconception, and then go into detail about why that perception is incorrect.
But it's a free country. And you can read the column and see nothing but "Mike hates Google." But 1) that's not true; 2) that has nothing to do with the column; and 3) isn't as interesting, imho, as reading the column and taking it at face value.
***** And by the way, can you explain why you like so much twitter? *****
I suppose I like Twitter the same reason so many other people like Twitter. You'll note that it has grown by 900% in the last year, so it's not like there's anything unusual about liking Twitter.
Also: I pretty much write a column or blog post about every opinion I have, so you can read about why I like Twitter here: http://blogs.computerworld.com/twitter_times_20
Mike
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