Thanks for the comment, Milan. I think we're actually living life in Beta in every aspect of life. We just accept, or don't understand, the inherent levels of risk.

Beta health care: e.g. super bugs created from overuse of (beta) antibiotics

Beta pharmaceuticals - e.g. Vioxx allowed on market when still in Beta

Beta motor vehicles - check all the recalls here: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls/arecalls_auto.htm

Aircraft: Eurocopter crashes at sea with engine failure; national safety systems not up to international standards, etc.

I contend that accepting that we are in Beta helps us to stay vigilant and look for ways of improving our systems and organisations, instead of assuming that everything is working just fine. An attitude of life in Beta for companies may get them to stop denying or covering up their errors. An open method of accident investigation has made the airline industry safer than our health care systems (see "The Human Factor", by Kim Vicente).