Vaporware is a word that refers to a product or service that has been announced but not yet released. The term was coined in the 1980s when software developers would announce their products without having any intention of releasing them, typically with the goal of increasing anticipation for future releases. This blog post will explore why vaporware is both good and bad for business, as well as ways you can mitigate its negative effects on your company.
There is no exact definition for what qualifies something as “vaporware,” but it is typically used to refer to products that are delayed by three months or more.
A company can sometimes use the idea of a new product to make people interested. But it is a problem if the company does not release that product soon. If the company does not follow through and release a new product, then people will lose interest in what they offer because they think that nothing good ever comes from them.
The good:
- Vaporware helps keep businesses afloat by generating revenue from customers who are expecting new announcements related to an old release (e.g., waiting for Microsoft Office 2016 updates).
- Consumers believe they are getting something out of these preannouncements because it feels like they have some control.
The bad:
- Vaporware can make customers less likely to purchase a competitor’s product or service, as they are expecting something new from the company that released vaporware.
Is vaporware legal?
What does the law say about vaporware? There are no federal laws against releasing unfinished products and there’s nothing illegal about marketing them this way either. Vendors can release incomplete programs without being penalized by regulators so long as they don’t make any false claims of completeness during development.
For example, if Microsoft sells Windows Vista while it’s still under construction and calls it “not ready for prime time,” then customers get what they pay for…and aren’t entitled to compensation due to product failure because regulatory agencies haven’t acted on the issue.
How is vaporware regulated?
Regulators have not attempted to regulate the sale of unfinished products, and so any customer who purchases such a product has no recourse for refunds or compensation in the event of failure due to lack of development by an organization; however, there are some organizations that do provide warranties against software developers’ faulty workmanship but only when it can be demonstrated that they provided something other than vaporware. These warranties tend to be offered as part of larger business transactions where buyers make significant investments upfront with confidence in their vendors’ ability to deliver what’s promised.
