Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and all because of one word: versions, says Dave Barry, American humourist
Software release process
Software is typically released in stages. The
first release to a customer or alpha release is generally an unstable release still being actively developed and debugged but made available to select users so that the developer can test the users’ reaction to it. The second or beta release is more stable and less buggy and closer to a release candidate. And – even though one can find many, many exceptions to this rule – the gold release in theory is thoroughly debugged and stable. Alpha and beta software releases are understood to be risky by both the developer and the user; the user, not the developer, assumes this risk.
The less than thrilling conclusion
However annoyed one may be by it, no one should be surprised that software products do not have the reliability of a Honda Civic. But the cost of software immaturity and unreliability may be a surprise: In 2002, US National Institute of Standards and Technology estimated that buggy software cost the US economy approximately $60 billion. In making a software purchase decision, do you suppose individual or business users consider that software may cost some portion of their revenue in future?
Since 1817, in USA, the legal doctrine of caveat emptor – Latin for “let the buyer beware”– has meant that a buyer could not recover anything from a seller for product defects which rendered it unfit for its intended use. All users – not only American users – of COTS or Web software should surely beware of their next and all future software purchase decision.
Software release process
Software is typically released in stages. The
first release to a customer or alpha release is generally an unstable release still being actively developed and debugged but made available to select users so that the developer can test the users’ reaction to it. The second or beta release is more stable and less buggy and closer to a release candidate. And – even though one can find many, many exceptions to this rule – the gold release in theory is thoroughly debugged and stable. Alpha and beta software releases are understood to be risky by both the developer and the user; the user, not the developer, assumes this risk.The less than thrilling conclusion
However annoyed one may be by it, no one should be surprised that software products do not have the reliability of a Honda Civic. But the cost of software immaturity and unreliability may be a surprise: In 2002, US National Institute of Standards and Technology estimated that buggy software cost the US economy approximately $60 billion. In making a software purchase decision, do you suppose individual or business users consider that software may cost some portion of their revenue in future?
Since 1817, in USA, the legal doctrine of caveat emptor – Latin for “let the buyer beware”– has meant that a buyer could not recover anything from a seller for product defects which rendered it unfit for its intended use. All users – not only American users – of COTS or Web software should surely beware of their next and all future software purchase decision.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
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