Q:

Really, though, how can gmail still be "beta"?

It's been out for almost five years.
It's got tens of millions of users
I suspect several businesses rely on it.

How is it still "beta"?  At what point will it no longer be beta?  When it completely owns the e-mail market?

A:

According to a Google spokesman: 

"We have very high internal metrics
  our consumer products have to meet
  before coming out of beta. Our teams
  continue to work to improve these
  products and provide users with an
  even better experience.  We believe
  beta has a different meaning when
  applied to applications on the Web,
  where people expect continual
  improvements in a product.  On the
  Web, you don't have to wait for the
  next version to be on the shelf or an
  update to become available. 
  Improvements are rolled out as they're
  developed.  Rather than the packaged,
  stagnant software of decades past,
  we're moving to a world of regular
  updates and constant feature
  refinement where applications live in
  the cloud."

Wikipedia defines Beta Version as:

A 'beta version' is the first version released outside the organization or community that develops the software, for the purpose of evaluation or real-world black/grey-box testing. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release. Beta level software generally includes all features, but may also include known issues and bugs of a less serious variety.

So this confirms that Google's use of the word is non-standard. I found this Slashdot article, Has Google Redefined Beta?, to be pretty interesting.  
I think Google borrowed the word for their own ends and it shouldn't be taken at face value with the traditional definition of "Beta".  It simply looks better to put "Beta" by your apps name instead of, "We are still constantly adding features to this product".

A:

Well it was down for 30 hours about two months ago. Looks like even after five years there are a few kinks to iron out.

