Google's love of the beta tag for it's software has been a thorn in some people's sides, and has caused concern for businesses looking for rock solid, reliable solutions, but has the beta tag gone too far this time?
Google Walking Directions, a beta feature of Google Maps is being blamed for causing a traffic accident after providing questionable directions that prompted the woman to walk down a road without sidewalks.
The Walking Directions site contains a warning that the software is in beta, but since the woman accessed the site using a Blackberry the warning was not visible.
Armed with only a Blackberry and her common sense, Lauren Rosenberg chose to blindly follow the route suggested by Google, a rural four lane highway.
Granted, in a world where coffee cups must legally inform customers that coffee is indeed hot this seems like a Google screw up. What a sad, sad state of affairs.
Hopefully two lessons can be learned from this: Common sense is an attribute that should never, ever be assumed or taken for granted, and Google and other software makers shouldn't abuse the beta tag!
