There seems to be some kind of trend recently for online applications and even websites to label themselves as being in 'beta'. I'm pretty sure this can be attributed to Google, whose Gmail has been in beta since it was publicly launched in 2004!

Why something would be in beta this long is beyond me, but it almost seems as if it's to provide some kind of getout clause for companies. If the server crashes and people lose all their data/emails, the company can just say "We told you to use it at your own risk, it was in beta afterall". Does this mean that companies can just rely on 'beta' status to get them out of trouble? If so, is this acceptable? You wouldn't buy a car which was still in testing, would you.

What do you think? Are these completely open, very long term beta tests the way forward, or do you feel uneasy using such an application?

Don't even get me started on websites that include one of those 'Web 2.0' style stars declaring it's in beta. How can a website be in beta?!

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The content of this post may change in the future. It is in beta, after all.