KROYCOM – The Invisible Hand of Porn

Beta is fine. I love stuff that’s almost done but may still have some minor kinks to work out, as long as I get to test drive it free and can be sure us beta testers can provide feedback that actually gets acted upon. Windows 7′s beta was pretty fab.

This Beta Mindset has become an ugly trend

It’s one thing for Mozilla to release a free Firefox beta to play around with. But releasing some half baked crap that *should* be called beta but instead selling it at full price to the masses while pretending everything is a-ok, is just bad business. Beta used to be for the nerds, the ones that are cool with messing around with stuff that’s not ready. But now it seems everything is released in beta. But whether you actually call it beta or not doesn’t matter though.Things need to work, or it’s in beta.

This goes for electronics, phones, operating systems, software, web sites, content...Everything.

Often times “beta” really just means half-assed.

When a electronics manufacturer, or software firm, or a services firm, or a web site hypes and sells something they damn well know is not ready for prime time, that’s a form of the Beta Mindset.

Apple does well in part because it does not have a Beta Mindset. When they release hardware or software, it works. If there’s a limitation (Flash, anyone?), Apple doesn’t hide that fact. When you buy an Apple product you normally know very well what you’re getting in to.

And this coming from someone who isn’t exactly an Apple fanboy. But considering the utter junk many firms are pushing out these days, I’m starting to become one.

In light of these news about the iPhone 4 on Verizon and thinking back about the “death grip” drama, it looks like Apple is guilty of the Beta Mindset too at times. Or maybe Consumer Reports is just overreacting and everything is actually super duper. Either way, you and me aren’t Apple and we don’t have a wizard in our pockets to make people magically forget about the bad stuff. The point is, mediocre, half-assed products just don’t cut it any longer, and yet so many companies/developers/managers/webmasters/et al. still push those out -  and wonder why they keep losing market share and can’t pay the bills in “these hard times”.

Why is Beta Mindset so common?

I think there are several reasons. Laziness is probably a big one. In fact, I’m guilty of the Beta Mindset right now – I’m too lazy to come up with creative images to sprinkle this page with. I know images work a lot better than a huge chunk of text. I figure I can always “improve” this post…later. Am I going to photoshop together some cute images of the word “beta” with a red circle around it, or put up images of some of the gadgets I will mention here? Nope. Lazy. This is an attitude I do not permit myself to have when I do work for my clients though. It’s an attitude you should not permit yourself to have if you expect to get paid, and we shouldn’t permit this attitude with the software and gadgets and phones and services we buy, either.

Another excuse is that it’s late, I  a worked 14 hour day but I really just wanted to get my thoughts out because this Beta Mindset has been pissing me off for some time. If I weren’t in a Beta Mindset myself I would write this thing, rework it, get better examples, rework some more, perfect it and then push the publish button.

This brings me to some of the other reasons, which include: bad resource management (testing costs money), tight schedules, pressure to put product to market, overzealous marketing departments, management too cheap and out of touch to understand the importance of truly delighting customers, and plain old stupidity. And sometimes one could actually get away with it in the past and it becomes a really bad habit.

Beta in Disguise

Enter Motorola Xoom (XOOM?). Great specs on paper. It’s Android. It’s fast. It’s not Apple. It can play Flash. It does 4G on Verizon!! OMG, right?

No. Turns out that this thing won’t do Flash at first. Later, sure.  (It’s always “later” when the Beta Mindset creeps in…) Moto fans (all five of ‘em) and those desperate to have something other than an iPad, blame it on Adobe.

Engadget’s review of the Xoom was sprinkled with too many “it’s pretty good – but..” disclaimers for me to be interested in it any longer.  Now, no 4G either until, well, later. Blame it on Verizon. In fact, if you bought the Xoom right now you get to send it back, wait a week, then have it returned to you with 4G capability sprinkled back in. I don’t know about you but if I spend that kind of cash on a device I don’t want to mail it off somewhere and wait for at least a week to hopefully get something back the way it was supposed to be in the first place.

So the thing is “not bad” but far from what it could be – should be. It’s half-assed.

In more Motorola-is-beta news (update: ummm, no – it’s HTC), the launch of their anticipated first 4G LTE phone for Verizon, Thunderbolt, keeps being delayed.Horrible battery life could have something to do with it. Surely, this can’t be news to them. Did they think they can just improve it in time for the original launch date? This is the second Moto device I’m skipping, I just can’t trust their quality control at this point. They used to rock, ‘member those days?

I’m not singling out Motorola or HTC here, they are just a recent example. If we are honest with ourselves we’ll find plenty of other examples of Beta Mindset products or services in our lives. Sometimes we put up with it because of an emotional attachment to the device or manufacturer. We shouldn’t.

Also, the Xoom or the Thunderbolt are neither the only nor the best examples of Beta Mindset. But it’s recent and want the keyword traffic. So there.

iPad and Co

Even before the iPad came out, several Asian manufacturers released Android-based tablets that did nothing other than spoil our taste for tablets. I bought a few to test drive them and frankly they all sucked. I hate Apple’s restrictions but fact is the iPad at least works. The hardware on the cheap-o Android tablets was awful and the Android versions used at that time were not ready for tablet use. Google actually said so.

Apple didn’t invent the tablet. They weren’t even the first ones to make one (or a smartphone, for that matter), but when they finally released it, the thing actually worked well. Up until then there really was no market for tablets. Now, tablets are a huge deal and everyone’s trying to catch up. Apple’s competitors had plenty of time to win the market but they just coasted on mediocrity and thinking the consumer will put up with this. All these early (and even most of the current) Android tablets are pushed out with a Beta Mindset.

Just recently I tried out at least 15 different utility programs for image management workflows. Some were pretty pricey, some were free. Other than one or two of the free ones, all of them were buggy, non-intuitive, and some of them just didn’t work at all. Some of these programs have been around in one form or another for many years so you’d think the developers would have figured out how to make their products work properly by now. I have wasted a lot of time in my life trying out different programs only to find one that actually works as advertised. I’m sure you have too.

Android. I likes me the little green dude. It’s an amazing platform and if you have an Android phone you already know that there are some incredibly cool things you can do with it. The problem is that quality control is next to non-existent in the Android Market. Sure, the best apps usually get the highest ratings by users, but let’s face it – there is so much complete junk that we all tend to waste a lot of time installing, trying, cursing, and then uninstalling things. Apple has some bullshit developer policies, mostly relating to making money. I simply cannot live with their restrictions (including Flash. I mean, c’mon…).But I do appreciate their quality control. It’s rare to hear about an iPhone app that flat out doesn’t work.

Microsoft saw the need to dramatically improve their Windows OS because after the Vista disaster, consumers got fed up, if they hadn’t already been sick of Windows by that time. With Apple’s Mac OS X looking like a more attractive alternative everyday, the Big M decided to something about that. And they did a fantastic job with Windows 7. It’s not all roses and never will be but it’s a big step forward. Unfortunately, many other software makers still make their version of a Windows Vista: half-assed junk.

On the web site front…I don’t even know where to begin. Some of the largest, most well-heeled companies on earth have some of the buggiest sites imaginable. I saw database errors that went unresolved for weeks, tons of 404 notices, inexplicable redirects that ended up crashing browsers, glaring security holes, and all sort of other aggravating stuff on big sites like Sprint, Bank of America, Verizon Wireless, Cox Communications, my power company, and many other places you would normally expect to have at least a modicum of  standards. When you are trying to pay your outrageous phone bill, the least you can expect is that the phone company actually makes that possible by keeping its web site up, right? Again, I’m sure you’ve experienced the same. If not, you will. Beta Mindset. Why are we paying for this?

Broken Porn

We run adult sites for clients. Some very large, some smaller. Some of the sites look like some kid in the basement put it together in an afternoon, some look unbelievably polished. Regardless of the look, the fell – the “story” the site tells, I am obsessed with making sure EVERYTHING works properly. All videos play. All photos load. Code works with all browsers. Contact forms work. No 404s. No links are broken. Because guess what – the site’s members will go somewhere else if things don’t work.

If it’s supposed to make us money, let’s act accordingly. Beta Mindset is fine for test sites and blogs, not for pay sites. Yes, mistakes happen, glitches occur. But we need to be diligent about fixing these things as quickly as possible – or not let them happen in the first place.

It’s sad when tube sites work better than pay sites from a usability perspective. I see a lot more problems on pay sites than on most of the large tube sites. Newsflash: surfers now can get their porn for free. If you want them to join your pay site it’s absolutely crucial to offer him more than what he can get for free, and this includes a rock solid user experience. If your members area videos are constantly broken, don’t expect him to stay around and keep paying. I wouldn’t and neither would you.

Paying Customers Are Not Beta Testers

Consumers are sick of stuff that doesn’t work. They hate wasting time with crashes, freezes, or incompatibilities (except Apple users, apparently). They don’t like sites that consist of a little content and a lot of 404 pages. Customers vote with their wallets, and it is critical – now more so than ever – that we don’t let them be disappointed with our offerings.

The Beta Mindset is hurting everyone and until we all get back to producing outstanding work, our customers are going to buy from our competitors who are already doing that.

Summary: don’t make your customers your beta testers. That’s your job.