You may have noticed that some of the Web 2.0 services we've looked at are more complete than others. In the case of the later, most of the expected service features work but the overall service has yet to be perfected. Welcome to perpetual beta, a frequent occurance in the world of Web 2.0 where services are in a constant state of improvement.
Perpetual Beta Tim O'Reilly, originator of the 'web 2.0' moniker, describes it this way (the relevant section of this article is great, though long and technical): the product is developed in the open, with new features slipstreamed in on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. It's no accident that services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Flickr, del.icio.us, and the like may be expected to bear a "Beta" logo for years at a time. Google and Beta Let's look at the officially sanctioned world of Google beta products. Why Google? They're doing some wonderfully interesting things and most of the customization functions will work with the Google ID you set up for your Learning 2.0 blog. Google's beta world is officially labeled Google Labs. This is where you can go to see their new ideas, some old ideas that were never-quite-completed, and a list of 'graduates' that are now in wider use. Discovery Exercise
|
Google Labs |