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When I first started working in this industry, lo those many years ago, product releases came very slowly and pointedly. You usually had plenty of warning that a new product or product release was on its way, and the path to the products you cared enough about to test was pretty well-trod. If a vendor had Build 134942 of a product, you may have known about it, but you sure didn’t test it. There were lots of products out there, but it seemed like it was a lot easier to keep abreast of what was important.
Today, we still get a heads-up when a new product or product update is coming, but there’s typically far less time between when that heads-up comes and when the product is available. You may have found out about the update on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, a blog, an RSS feed or–maybe, just maybe–a publication printed on paper! (More likely, though, via your smartphone or iPad.) And, there are now not only more products to wrap your head around, but more technology and delivery platforms to consider. Add to that the plethora of “pundits” providing profound prognostications about technology, and decision making suddenly gets crazily difficult.
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