Beta for Blondes
Beta for Blondes
Disclaimer: Geeks stop reading now. This article will probably offend you with its simplistic terminology and lack of tech talk.
A few months ago I was cruising through iTunes looking for sweet new jams to listen to while I worked. As I scrolled down the page looking at staff favorites and top hits, something new caught my eye, “Just for You” beta. Clearly I was intrigued. I think any blondes would be.
So I began to explore this new frontier that was supposedly “just for me” and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me a plethora of musical options that I liked but hadn’t heard yet. It was like iTunes was my musical mentor. I bought some new music and the world was at peace. A few weeks later I came back to my musical haven made “just for me”, but I was frustrated, it had all changed. I already owned the music they suggested or to my horror some of the songs I didn’t even like,
As you could imagine I was in utter turmoil and began to dislike beta.
Then beta became my biggest foe, showing up at every turn. It was there on my hotmail account, my friends and family started sending me Web sites that were in beta. I just didn’t get it!
What was this beta that was making me so flustered? One minute beta knew me and the next it was like a stranger. Well I did what any blonde would do, went to the web and wikied it (Wiki: A collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it.) The minute I got to the bottom of what this beta was, I felt at ease.
You have to understand I may work within the world of the Web, but I am by no means techy. I had heard of beta before, but brushed it off as “geek speak.” But when beta made a new appearance in my mainstream life it was apparent I needed to get with it.
Beta is basically the step after alpha in software development…right? That’s what I thought. Let me translate, when software is developed they do a great deal of internal testing, but that can only take it so far. At some point they have to test with the public and get a feel for what we think. This also helps to catch any last minute bugs because it can only be tested in so many scenarios internally. Allow me to compare to something we all understand: TV. Networks always screen test their shows to see how audiences react. Many times our favorite television shows were very different at their “beta” versions. An annoying aunt was replaced, or a new hot stud was added as a neighbor before we ever see the final version.
Beta isn’t just for geeks anymore. It seems that as companies work within the world of Web that every consumer becomes a beta tester. I myself have become a beta tester and I finally gave iTunes some feedback about “Just for You.” Who knows maybe beta and I can become friends.
Disclaimer: Geeks stop reading now. This article will probably offend you with its simplistic terminology and lack of tech talk.
A few months ago I was cruising through iTunes looking for sweet new jams to listen to while I worked. As I scrolled down the page looking at staff favorites and top hits, something new caught my eye, “Just for You” beta. Clearly I was intrigued. I think any blondes would be.
So I began to explore this new frontier that was supposedly “just for me” and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me a plethora of musical options that I liked but hadn’t heard yet. It was like iTunes was my musical mentor. I bought some new music and the world was at peace. A few weeks later I came back to my musical haven made “just for me”, but I was frustrated, it had all changed. I already owned the music they suggested or to my horror some of the songs I didn’t even like,
As you could imagine I was in utter turmoil and began to dislike beta.
Then beta became my biggest foe, showing up at every turn. It was there on my hotmail account, my friends and family started sending me Web sites that were in beta. I just didn’t get it!
What was this beta that was making me so flustered? One minute beta knew me and the next it was like a stranger. Well I did what any blonde would do, went to the web and wikied it (Wiki: A collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it.) The minute I got to the bottom of what this beta was, I felt at ease.
You have to understand I may work within the world of the Web, but I am by no means techy. I had heard of beta before, but brushed it off as “geek speak.” But when beta made a new appearance in my mainstream life it was apparent I needed to get with it.
Beta is basically the step after alpha in software development…right? That’s what I thought. Let me translate, when software is developed they do a great deal of internal testing, but that can only take it so far. At some point they have to test with the public and get a feel for what we think. This also helps to catch any last minute bugs because it can only be tested in so many scenarios internally. Allow me to compare to something we all understand: TV. Networks always screen test their shows to see how audiences react. Many times our favorite television shows were very different at their “beta” versions. An annoying aunt was replaced, or a new hot stud was added as a neighbor before we ever see the final version.
Beta isn’t just for geeks anymore. It seems that as companies work within the world of Web that every consumer becomes a beta tester. I myself have become a beta tester and I finally gave iTunes some feedback about “Just for You.” Who knows maybe beta and I can become friends.
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