If it don't work, sell it

Used to be, there was a fair assumption that, when you bought something off the shelf, it actually fucking worked. This assumption is now ancient history.

Companies have amputated the product-to-market cycle -- specifically the product-testing end of the cycle. The consumer is now the product tester, early adapters especially. Companies sell you stuff that doesn't quite work yet. You scream bloody murder -- and then they create a patch. Whether you know it or not, you're an unpaid grunt in R&D.

Which explains why Windows 95 is a hellish abortion of good intentions all wrapped up in a heavenly box.