I wonder if the large amount of regular users who jump at the chance to join a beta has anything to do with the severe dilution of the term. These days a produc

I wonder if the large amount of regular users who jump at the chance to join a beta has anything to do with the severe dilution of the term. These days a product labeled as beta is very likely to be using that to imply a degree of exclusivity or simply to emphasize that it is the absolute latest, rather than it being unfinished. Beta access for video games is extremely desirable, Google has made the term completely meaningless with products like Gmail, etc. When beta is so frequently a good thing, who wouldn't want to get the latest iOS and tell all their friends about how awesome it is? Just some thoughts, but I'm feeling deja vu while writing this post - I suspect the topic has been beaten to death in the past. edit: indeed it has, here is a discussion from when iOS5 was released: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2649222 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2649222