What Does "Beta" Mean to You?

Software or webapps in a "beta" phase should, according to tradition, not pick up any major features, and should be going through community testing mostly to work out kinks and bugs. But one astute writer at the Pingdom blog found that 22 of Google's 49 public products—a good 45 percent—were listed as "beta," despite going through significant feature changes and even entire version changes. They're hardly alone, as other webapp companies, like Jott, have taken to developing entire applications under the beta flag. Some suggest Google may be avoiding providing tech support or owning up to any major flaws found in their products, but we're wondering: Do you see the definition of "beta" changing elsewhere? Are you happy with the idea of getting early access to potentially flawed products, or would you rather just get a working package when it's ready? Tell us your take in the comments.

Original here