jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

By now we all know that LR5 is available in beta so that we can test it and let Adobe know what changes should be made.

In an article on the 15 tech jobs that will not be needed in the future, Quality Assurance is listed as one of them. Whey hire people to test your product when you can get thousands of folks to test it for free?

"5. Quality Assurance Specialist and Managers
Hiring professionals in the Dice survey placed Quality Assurance (QA) on the "low priority" side of the ledger. Do not expect this to change. These days, the tech industry seems to be following Google's lead and turning everyone into beta testers. Users are the ultimate quality assurance staff - and they don't get paid!"

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I know that in a LOT of manufacturing QC gets a bad rap because they are always the guys who are "making trouble" lol...the fight between production and QC lives on.

It's a tough balancing act; good quality without breaking the bank.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

If I were running a business, I'd like to think that QA would get top priority. With so many competing products on the market, if a company gets a reputation for making an inferior product, it can be hard to change public opinion back once the problems have been solved.

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

First impressions are hard and often very expensive to change. Better to get it right the first time around rather than later no matter how. And for age old battles how about accounting and sales... ;)

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

QA is important BUT by beta testing you may and do find problems which then can be corrected before the final release. Also problems are found after the final release that is why we get updates to our programs and firmware

HEART Loc: God's Country - COLORADO

Thanks Jer - and the Chinese have been "beta testing" everything that isn't nailed down and claiming it as theirs for years...although I think we call it "stealing."

FrumCA

Now companies will have to substitute QA employees with "Beta Test Input Reviewers" in order to validate the beta tester's reports.

PhotoGator Loc: Florida

Public beta testing to check what people prefer or to find out bugs is totally different that product testing for quality and safety. The second requires technical expertise beyond general common public knowledge. I am certain a patient will prefer their medication pump delivering a potent medication into their spinal canal to be tested and inspected by people with technical knowledge and qualification in the field.
Who do you prefer checking the quality and reliability and quality of every single component in the airplanes, trains, buses, vehicles, machinery, appliances, electronic consumer equipment, medical and hospital equipment, ....etc;?