I'd like to know when "beta test" entered the layman lexicon and came to be an accepted justification for a product under-performing expectations. Google's ngr

I'd like to know when "beta test" entered the layman lexicon and came to be an accepted justification for a product under-performing expectations. Google's ngram viewer suggests usage of the term in literature began around 1980, but that doesn't really capture the use and perception of the word by consumers.