What’s Vaporware?

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Software development creates automated applications that require sales and marketing. Vaporware refers to software under development. Rapid Application Development creates screenshots to demonstrate how an application will work. Prototypes are quick conceptual versions of a working application. Vaporware techniques create interest in a product to drive demand and investment. Shovelware ports an application without upgrades in usability. Glossyware overwrites a product, promising features that don’t exist. Vaporware marketing creates demand before a product is ready, reducing overall quality.

Computer software development is the process of creating a software application that automates the completion of a manual task. This software application becomes a product that requires sales and marketing to a community of users. The term vaporware is used to describe a software application that is under development and not ready for production.

Software development is a complex process that requires effective management and rigor. Software development is the process of managing a software product through the stages of its creation. These phases typically include requirements, design, coding, testing, and deployment.

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a method for developing software using vaporware. During the requirements development phase, the RAD creates screenshots that demonstrate how the application will work. Typically, the screen will include fake data but look like a live system.

Successful software development requires developers to have a detailed understanding of the expectations of potential users of an application. To achieve this, developers can use prototypes. A prototype application is a quick conceptual version of a working application and is considered vaporware. It is usually a usable screen with limitations in the underlying architecture.

Complex software applications are expensive and require many hours of software development and hardware assembly. Typically these applications require significant initial financial investments. Vaporware techniques are used to create interest in a product that can drive demand and investment.

Some applications and computer technologies use “smoke and mirrors” to distract potential users from an application’s underlying problems. This approach to vaporware misleads the true benefits of an application. While the system meets the outlined benefits, the defined higher expectations are not met after implementation.
Shovelware is the term used to describe an effort to port an application from one operating system to another operating system without any upgrades in usability. Users are tricked into thinking that the new system will act and feel like the older system with better performance. When the system moves into the new environment, it typically does not meet the expectations of the user community.
Glossyware is another form of selling vaporware. When a computer application is marketed, the material used for advertising is often referred to as a gloss. This stuff often overwrites a product, promising features that don’t exist in production.
Typically, software application developers are not proponents of vaporware marketing. This type of marketing creates demand before a product is ready for release. This burden is placed on development to deliver the product faster, which reduces the overall quality.




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