“You are getting the BETA version of our seed funding”
June 29, 2007 at 12:15 pm 1 comment
So Google is now seed funding widget/gadget creators through “grants”. This is making interesting news in the headlines and I don’t need to talk about it here because it is/will be all over the blogosphere. However, the one thing that caught my eye is that the funding program is in “BETA”. The logo on the Google Gadget Ventures site has the customary Google “BETA” on it. Is BETA the new word that they are using for “…a new Google pilot program dedicated …”. Or does it mean that gadget creators will be getting the BETA version of the funding. If so, why would one want BETA not Version 1.0? When does the usage of this word become overkill? It’s over usage (and unusually long periods of BETA state) is beginning to take its toll on its value, if it has not already. Right now I am really hard at work trying to make the decision whether we will use the word “beta” to identify any of our version releases. I doubt that we will perpetuate any further usage of this word.
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David Duey | June 29, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Using the “beta” designation has a couple of positive connotations for me: 1) it means it’s something new and I like the idea of trying something new (I’d like to think I’m an early adopter), and 2) it means I’ll get to try it for free. I think the main problem with the use beta versions, particularly in the case of Google, is that they often seem to be perpetual.