Scrutinizing The Private Beta

The last few years have been replete with announcements of the birth of new companies, the acquisition/sale of a great many entities, new products and services, and so on and so forth. The Internet’s a-growin’, for sure.

Heck, just today, a decent selection of media companies delivered as a private beta the much-hyped IPTV service, Hulu, for the press and a select few others to play with and spread word about. As expected, they’re talking. Talking quite glowingly about it, really.

And that kind of bugs me. Not that the press is talking, mind you. No, what bugs me is the method that this new Web business has been delivered. A method that’s been the all but the default for new and well-publicized companies over the last dozen or so months. The method in profile, as is mentioned above, is the “private release.”

Hey, call it a pet peeve. Call it Monday morning grumpiness. Call it whatever you wish. I’m only writing to state for the record my own discontent with the way things are currently being run by executives in Silicon Valley and elsewhere with concern to the brand new.

Like I said, the “private release” method didn’t start last evening. It didn’t begin with Hulu. Or Pownce. Or Joost. Or, you know, any other new thing that’s come about in the last few months that’s made quite a name for itself thus far. But nonetheless, all such releases have thing in common: they started their journeys as limited releases.

And, to be clear, I fully understand it. It’s a gimmick. It’s a way to maintain hype for a product or service, before, during, and after its release, for as long as is possible. It’s done in order to ensure that the name and the brand stick in the minds of as many people as possible. It kind of gives a product a sort of special sugary coat of exclusivity, and as a result, demand increases. For the most part.

The problem I have with such a practice is that it seems to have already gotten relatively tired, and in fact seems unnecessary in a great many cases.

There eventually does come a time at which private memberships for many, many releases all over the Web end up looking very much like a standard class of always-eligible participants (many of the same faces, all mingling with their own set list of friends), whereas all the regular, lesser folk – better known as the general public – are left (expectantly so, too, which makes current practice doubly annoying) to observe and patiently await the arrival of their own personal golden ticket in their inboxes - or worse, the announcement of a public release a good many months after the buzz has died. All initial excitement lost. Just, it is what it is. Take it or leave it.

Now, I know, many businesses today do not ascribe to the you-make-it-cool-if-you-make-it-private motto. And some that do put in place invitation-only rules to entry do so only to ensure that their products are in tip-top shape for an eventual public release. But it seems that more and more enterprises, big and small, are playing the exclusivity game simply to drum up demand. Which simply ain’t okay.

I mean, yes, the proprietors of those businesses surely have the right to do as they wish. They can erect blocks if they like. They can remove them when the mood suits. Only, there’s an argument to be made for some reasonable treatment of those that various Web companies hope to become part of their user base.

The Internet, after all, is a beautifully open realm of possibilities. What’s the purpose of closing off some of the best new stuff from average individuals who show genuine interest?

If the constructors of new products and services really want to get sound, unadulterated opinions from the people they intend to reach, they might want to start letting those people use the stuff they’ve created, rather than continually look to the friendly folk in the media to determine whether the public will or will not enjoy it.

Fresh perspective is invaluable. Web companies’ PR departments should remind themselves of that fact. Frequently.

(Note: This writer of the public availability of Hulu video at AOL, among other channels. The piece above is intended to argue against stragetic choices in the area of PR.)