史蒂文 :: Release 2.0

David Beisel has a interesting post on the slightly ridiculous numbers of sites that are now publically beta. I added comments there, but wanted to add them here too (not having built in trackback is a pain).

I just read We the Media where Dan Gillmor talks of his interest in Google News. He wrote the book in early 2002 and Google News was already in beta at that point for some time. Now, more than 3 years later it is still in beta.

For years i versioned and released alpha and beta versions of code. With Vidyo i haven't really bothered - when you start it's a matter of whether people see value in what you have and that takes time. If it is good they'll use it, whether alpha or not.

On the web as you say all meaning has been lost. Personally I think most services (especially web 2.0) are alpha. I think the key point is that many services are thinking about their revenue model - while they are in beta they can still do and say all for free. It then gives them the option to move out of beta and start to charge. There must be a zillion Web 2.0 sites out there saying "free in beta".

Personally, I think you have to go with the community. With a brand new service, until you get community feedback and reach a tipping point allowing some way of making money from it you are always in beta as you might need to change your entire strategy to make money.

FWIW i remember certain very big software companies making version 0.1 - if that the first release or 1/10th what the first release will be?

Please note this post is free to read whilst we are in beta.