Living in Beta Times

Gmail turned 5 years old yesterday (and still considered to be in beta testing.)

On September 26, 2006 Facebook was opened to everyone of ages 13 and older with a valid e-mail address. In less than 3 years it now has 175 million users.

Twitter was opened to the public in March of 2006 and is currently growing at 1382%.

The Blackberry smartphone was released in 2002 and now has 21 million subscribers.

Technology is changing how we interact as a society, how we process information and how we think. In other words, we are a completely different society than we were on September 10, 2001. That's not even including the social trauma impact we felt in this country the next day. I'm just looking at the technological impact.

Where are you in the transition of society?

When I hear employers talking about having to adjust to employees having "cell phones" I cringe at how slow they are adopting to the changes going on around them. I have witnessed technology speakers asking their audience members to turn off phones and laptops during their presentations. I see savvy business leaders refusing to blog, get involved in social media online and claim to be cutting edge because they have a static page on LinkedIn.

Business executives in this country need to be using the technology available to them to revamp, retool and reposition their businesses in these dormant economic times. Instead of wring hands and gnashing teeth wondering where the next order is coming from, focus on what this time is presenting you with: the best opportunity to recreate your business without losing significant market share.

Traditionalists moan and wail over the loss of how things were.

People leading organizations at the top of their industries resist change because the are the best at the old rules.

Innovators always create and embrace change because they believe life should never settle into a rut.

It was brought to my attention from a twitter colleague that Gmail is still considered to be in beta testing five years into the process. It got me thinking; as rapid as life is changing, aren't we living in a state of constant beta? With Gmail, facebook and twitter all less than five years old, what changes do the next 5 years have in store for us? Life in beta indeed. Lead the charge to new technology applications or lose customers to those who are.

My view on living is I'd rather have life in beta than life in boring. You can quote me on that.