Aplus.net Blog

Jessica Stillman, blogger for BNET, recently wrote a story about how digital life is increasingly locked into “beta mode”. (Read “Perfectionists Despair: Digital World ‘Always in Beta’” at BNET.)

What’s that mean? As more and more aspects of life are translated to the digital world, there’s an ever-increasing competition among businesses to win over the most customers by being the first company to release the newest thing — which often means releasing new software before it’s perfected and still in a somewhat experimental phase.

For companies, the benefits are obvious: Be the first one to offer consumers a new thing and watch ‘em line up. After all, there are few things today’s consumer loves more than to be the first person with the latest gadget or technology (iPhone, anyone?).

However, companies can also be hurt by this, for the obvious reason: Releasing a service or software that hasn’t yet been properly finished can backfire, creating support and/or PR nightmares in the process.

Still, that risk isn’t likely to stop most companies from continuing with this trend, especially the bigger ones, who are faced with a loss of prestige (not to mention market share) if a smaller company releases something before they do. Larger companies also have a much more stable network of service and support, so they’re better able to help ease customers into the new services and iron out all the wrinkles as they pop up.

Of course, all this stems from the Web 2.0 movement, which is catching fire lately. As Stillman writes in her blog:

While perfectionists and control freaks twitch in discomfort at the idea, with the pace of business now so fast, speed often trumps the need for a flawless release. Plus, with innovation at a premium, requiring perfection can stifle people’s willingness to play and solve problems creatively.

As David Armano has pointed out in Business Week, consumers are not really consumers anymore. Not only do they consume products, they also want to interact actively with them. The message traffic that used to flow one-way from marketers to consumers, now moves two ways. It’s a conversation which requires companies who want to appear responsive to consumer back chatter to tweak and revamp their products and marketing rapidly. What’s this mean? More and more initiatives are always in beta.

What do you think? Is this a necessary development, or a disturbing trend? We’re always interested in reading your comments, so sound off below and let us know what you think!