Software companies are renown for pre-releasing software - known as beta-testing - and, indeed, officially releasing incomplete (buggy) software.

Back in the 1990s it was a running joke (and probably still is) that if Microsoft launched cars like it launched software… there would be accidents galore due to so many faulty cars on the road.

But the point is: Microsoft wasn’t releasing cars. It was releasing software. And, for most home and business users, a bug in Windows or Internet Explorer wouldn’t cause serious or fatal injury.

Also, software is arguably much more complex than an automobile engine - it’s almost inevitable that a program will contain a few mistakes here and there, given the millions of lines of code that goes into a typical program. If, despite the best of intentions, it’s possible for a few typos to slip through the editing process used for a book or report or article… it’s certainly possible for a few typos to slip through the testing of software code.

That’s not to say that software companies intend to, or should, release buggy programs or that software bugs can’t be disastrous - just ask anyone who’s been hacked because of a software security flaw. It’s just that despite all the internal testing, alpha testing and beta testing that software companies typically go through, they are still almost bound to release imperfect software.

That being the case, they aren’t about to delay launching their products even further to ensure everything is perfect, when (a) further testing may not uncover further bugs, and (b) real world usage IS likely to reveal further bugs.

Thus, Microsoft and just about every respectable software company tends to release imperfect software which it then improves by sending customers updates, patches and fixes.

Now, here’s why that’s a smart approach: when it comes to things that are NOT life or death: speed trumps perfection.

It’s better to get something out and keep on improving it than to wait for everything to be absolutely perfect first. It’s better for morale, and it’s also better for uncovering problems that may only become apparent when real customers buy and use the given software product.

I like the way Google puts it. In his blog post announcing Google Chrome on Monday, Sundar Pichai said that Google’s engineers have a saying, “launch early and iterate”.

In fact, I like this philosophy so much… I’m STEALING it. And I recommend you do too. (Presuming, of course, that not doing so won’t hurt anyone!)

Source: Sundar Pichai, “A Fresh Take On The Browser”, Official Google Blog, September 1, 2008

I can’t believe I’m saying this about Microsoft. After all, before Google, Microsoft was the omnipresent tech company renown for its business smarts… its challenging recruitment program…. its propensity to buy up innovative technologies and companies… and its dominance over computing…

Microsoft is still incredibly successful and making loads of money… but it just can’t seem to compete in search. And it seems to be losing ground to the open source movement - from Mozilla on the browser front, to OpenOffice on the office software front.

So what does a company do if it has too much money and not enough brains to beat its competitors or keep them at bay?

Well, firstly, it tries to buy those competitors. Like the second best search company e.g. Yahoo. Or an up and coming semantic search engine like Powerset.

But if that doesn’t work or if promising technologies and tech companies seem thin on the ground (at least to the folks in Redmond) then it… buys back its own shares. Well, that’s the view of a top Wall Street analyst, who believes Microsoft will spend as much as $20 billion buying back its own shares over the next three months.

Of course, companies typically buy back their own shares when they see value in themselves that other investors don’t… that could be a good thing (they know something we don’t) or a bad thing (self-delusional)…

Source: Todd Bishop, “Cash-rich Microsoft may buy back shares”, SFGate, August 11, 2008

Wow, a high profile Internet marketer - dare I say “guru” - has lashed out at what she regards as 15 Internet marketing sins.

Sylvie Fortin, president and founder of outsourcing outfit, Workaholics4Hire, and wife of renown Internet copywriter, Michel Fortin, has released a report where she unleashes her rage over a number of tactics commonly used in the Internet marketing niche and elsewhere.

There’s certainly a marketing (list building and sales) motive behind the release of Sylvie’s report. Come on, we’re all marketers, right? But I was truly surprised - and impressed - by Sylvie’s brutal honesty in the report.

Surprise, surprise, a “guru” - who no doubt rubs shoulders with some of the biggest marketing sinners - genuinely lashes out at practices she believes are undermining Internet marketing. I mean really. She even lets loose a few expletives!

Frankly, I would love to see everyone in the Internet marketing niche (and other niches) take Sylvie’s ideas to heart. Regardless of whether or not this is partly a marketing exercise (and heck, I’ve signed up as an affiliate) I agree with her when she says that the fewer people engaged in shady marketing tactics, the better it is for all of us.

Download a copy of Sylvie’s Internet Marketing Sins report here (yep, it’s an affiliate link):

==> Free copy of Sylvie Fortin’s Internet Marketing Sins report

Source: Sylvie Fortin, Internet Marketing Sins, July 2008