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Three words: labor saving devices.
Until makers of devices and software start using real beta-testers during their quality control and evaluation phase this kind of stuff is always going to happen.
Big, multi-million dollar, highly capitalized firms skimp on the beta-testing phase by bringing in poor representative samples to kick the tires, gadget geeks. Sure they don't have to pay these testers anything (just give em a free copy of the software (or in my case a keyring... thank you Microdoft). These kind of testers are great for pushing the operating limits of the device or code but they are notoriously bad for evaluating the usability of the thing being tested.
If you want your iThing-a-ma-jig to penetrate across all market sectors then you better test that Larry the tech junkie can't crash it and that Loretta the cosmetology drop-out can at least get it set up and running.
Like anything else... you get the quality control that you pay for.
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