Half baked: 45 percent of Google projects in beta
Google has an infamous propensity to keep projects in beta for an unusually long time, and now somebody has gone to the trouble of quantifying just how widespread the testing tag is at the Internet giant.
"Of the 49 Google products we could find, 22 are in beta. That's 45 percent," not including Google Labs projects, according to a Wednesday blog post at Pingdom, a Web site performance monitoring company. "We're so used to seeing the little 'beta tag next to the various Google product logos that we almost don't register it anymore. We even had to double-check that Gmail really still was in beta."
Google told me a few months ago the beta tag would come off Gmail "soon," but clearly the company is leery of doing so.
Royal Pingdom was mystified by Google's criteria for beta labeling, and I have been, too.
It's true that it's easier to treat Web-based apps as a work in progress: a company can upgrade the entire user base to a new version of Flickr, say, just by updating the software on the central servers rather than having to cajole millions of users to install a patch. But there comes a point where labeling something as beta gives the impression that the project's backer is scared to make a commitment to prospective users or customers.
And sometimes Google seems conflicted. For example, Google offers a Gmail service level agreement to paying Google Apps customers, and the point of an SLA is to assure business customers they can count on something working. Yes, Gmail has been in flux since its introduction in 2004, but enough is enough. I'm a little surprised Microsoft doesn't make more hay of this when taking potshots at its rival.
Here's Pingdom's full list of Google beta projects:
• Alerts
• Blog Search
• Book Search
• Google Chrome
• Finance
• Google Health
• Patent search
• Product Search
• Scholar
• Video
• Custom Search
• Calendar
• Docs
• Gmail
• Knol
• Orkut
• Talk
• Translate
• Google Pack
• Base
• Image Labeler
• News Archive Search
Stephen Shankland covers Google, Yahoo, search, online advertising, portals, digital photography, and related subjects. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered servers, supercomputing, open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen.
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Sad to see.
Google craps on a newspaper and the press drools, but Google apps are all hype and will never compete with Microsoft IMHO. I see a lot of parallels of the 1999 dot com boom and the trajectory that Google is on today, beginning with the elimination of subsidized childcare for employees.
At the end of the day they have to run a business and the apps don't make any money.
Lets face it, this article is just BS! Taking the beta tag off a piece of software won't make it better. And I'm glad they have a higher standard. (Isn't that what everybodies been mad at microsoft for?) Gawd (my apologies to the author, point made and taken) but this article in it's criticism is pathetic.
The real question of course is how much would it really matter if it has or does not have "beta" on it?
can you trust on Google's cloud?.
I don't think so.
And more generally :can you trust on any cloud?
Gmail, for instance, would have major issues with SPAM if it came out of beta. I think if Gmail does come out of beta, it should remain an "invite only" service, because if you can register for an account online in a few easy steps, that only means spammers will hit it hard with yet more spam in our email boxes. I like the idea of keeping it invite only, unless you have a cellphone and can sign up that way, that way it takes away from spammers signing up for multiple accounts and using it to send out their dirty work. thats whats so bad about yahoo mail right now, and hotmail, and why gmail doesn't get anywhere near that. I mean yeah u get spam in gmail, but not nearly as much, and the spam filtering in gmail is much better then the other email services, for that very reason I think. I just think more people aren't using gmail because people are afraid of just any psycho being able to search thru their email, but I think of gmail no different then yahoo mail, sure it may be email by a search engine provider, but that doesn't mean u can search thru other peoples email at google.com, I just think google was just trying to get on the email offering bandwagon just like any other company.
As for googles other services, some of those will always be in beta just because there always works in progress. like the google translator, I doubt that will ever work. translate, talk, and some of those others I highly doubt will ever work, so I think google puts together some of those things to see what the general public thinks of those, and I think some of the less popular ones just die off one by one really.
Now the kids flock to the nearest beta in the hopes of being cool.
This beta status has nothing to do with usability or stability, simple marketing tagline.
-Ben
Allowing people to store years worth of mail on their servers, and imply that you could lose it at any time, is just irresponsable. Do they stand by their work or not?
Google has a huge lead on search -- that is assured. At some point, for some reason, search won't be the cash cow it is today, and Google will be pressured to cut the dead weight, non-core assets to keep the stock price afloat. If 90% of all of Google's offered applications/services are unprofitable (and I'd bet that's a good guess), watch out. This is dot com ville all over again.
Everyone thinks grandiose free projects are great until the cost is fully realized. How long will Google continue to give away free multi-GB Gmail mailboxes when their profits are shrinking? They'll have to trim the program, make the advertising more inasive or find new ways of monetizing your private information.
-Mister Winky
And for those couple of users who thinks google is dead weight because they only see search engine and gmail...wow you guys are incredibly narrow minded. Obviously not in the technical field either because if you are, you would know about the tons of tools they provide developers to do a variety of things. Google have provided me a whole lot of robust tools (technical and non technical) that have made my job much easier and I am more than grateful for it.
So, where is the problem with being accurate?
In general the internet took off as a cultural tool over the last year or 2 and it has become very trendy to be the first person your block to be a part of the newest site or social network.
Thus "Beta" is used to draw people in to participate with the special feeling they get from being early adopters.
It's marketing, not code status.
-Ben
cyas
-Ben
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by vk mahajan
September 25, 2008 5:46 PM PDT
- I think and these are my personal views, that to keep a program in Beta like gmail, it is of immense help to company financially. You cannot take the company to court as it is Beta and still under testing. Company does not have to issue any Update for similar reasons. Company reaps the rich harvest by advertising through it. Lastly Company can close it as and when it becomes burden financially. Google it indulging in this unfair practice and some one has to stop it. Beta version if released has to become normal Version in laid down time say 6 Months.
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by shadfurman
September 25, 2008 11:04 PM PDT
- We should force companies to do things because they FORCE us to use their products. Your BENEFITING from their products you retarded sue happy freeloader. You have just as much right to go out and by a non-beta piece of software that will probrably do the same thing. (Or you could make a better one and become rich) But I swear this country need a coalition of lawyers to sue, sue happy people for ruining our economy and taking away our freedoms (like the freedom to drink hot coffee at mcdonalds) You REALLY irk my the wrong way! SOMEONE SHOULD STOP YOU!
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