thumb|280px|The U.S. Justice Department accused IBM of intentionally announcing its [[IBM System/360 Model 91 computer (pictured) nearly two years early to hurt sales of its competitor's computer.]]

In the computer industry, vaporware (or vapourware) is a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is significantly delayed, never released, or canceled.

Vaporware is often announced months or years before its purported release, with few details about its development being released. Developers have been accused of intentionally promoting vaporware to keep customers from switching to competing products that offer more features. Network World magazine called vaporware an "epidemic" in 1989 and blamed the press for not investigating if developers' claims were true. Seven major companies issued a report in 1990 saying that they felt vaporware had hurt the industry's credibility. The United States accused several companies of announcing vaporware early enough to violate antitrust laws, but few have been found guilty.

"Vaporware" was coined by a Microsoft engineer in 1982 to describe the company's Xenix operating system and appeared in print at least as early as the May 1983 issue of Sinclair User magazine (spelled "vapourware" in UK English). It became popular among writers in the industry as a way to describe products they felt took too long to be released. InfoWorld magazine editor Stewart Alsop helped popularize it by lampooning Bill Gates with a Golden Vaporware award for the late release of his company's first version of Windows in 1985.

Etymology

"Vaporware", sometimes synonymous with "vaportalk" in the 1980s,

The first reported use of the word was in 1982 by an engineer at the computer software company Microsoft. Ann Winblad, president of Open Systems Accounting Software, wanted to know if Microsoft planned to stop developing its Xenix operating system as some of Open System's products depended on it. She asked two Microsoft software engineers, John Ulett and Mark Ursino, who confirmed that development of Xenix had stopped. "One of them told me, 'Basically, it's vaporware'," she later said. Winblad compared the word to the idea of "selling smoke", implying Microsoft was selling a product it would soon not support.

thumb|left|Influential writer Esther Dyson (pictured here in 2008) popularized the term "vaporware" in her November 1983 issue of RELease 1.0.

Winblad described the word to influential computer expert Esther Dyson,

The practice existed before Winblad's account. In a January 1982 review of the new IBM Personal Computer, BYTE favorably noted that IBM "refused to acknowledge the existence of any product that is not ready to be put on dealers' shelves tomorrow. Although this is frustrating at times, it is a refreshing change from some companies' practice of announcing a product even before its design is finished". When discussing Coleco's delay in releasing the Adam, Creative Computing in March 1984 stated that the company "did not invent the common practice of debuting products before they actually exist. In microcomputers, to do so otherwise would be to break with a veritable tradition". Recalling that a Lanier Business Products word processor became available immediately after its announcement, Creative Computing wrote that year, "If we were to re-enact that scene today, I wouldn't get my machine for at least six months, maybe a year".

After Dyson's article, the word "vaporware" became popular among writers in the personal computer software industry as a way to describe products they believed took too long to be released after their first announcement.

"Vaporware" took another meaning when it was used to describe a product that did not exist. A new company named Ovation Technologies announced its office suite Ovation in 1983. Executives later revealed that Ovation never existed. The company created the fake demonstration in an unsuccessful attempt to raise money to finish their product, and is "widely considered the mother of all vaporware," according to Laurie Flynn of The New York Times. Popular Science magazine uses a scale ranging from "vaporware" to "bet on it" to describe release dates of new consumer electronics. Car manufacturer General Motors' plans to develop and sell an electric car were called vaporware by an advocacy group in 2008 and Car and Driver magazine retroactively described the Vector W8 supercar as vaporware in 2017.

Causes and use

Late release

A product missing its announced release date, and the labeling of it as vaporware by the press, can be caused by its development taking longer than planned. Most software products are not released on time, according to researchers in 2001 who studied the causes and effects of vaporware;

Software development is a complex process, and developers are often uncertain how long it will take to complete any given project. Fixing errors in software, for example, can make up a significant portion of its development time, and developers are motivated not to release software with errors because it could damage their reputation with customers. Last-minute design changes are also common.

Duke Nukem

thumb|Duke Nukem Forever booth at [[PAX Prime 2010]]

Vaporware also includes announced products that are never released because of financial problems, or because the industry changes during its development. The company's previous game released in 1996, Duke Nukem 3D, was a critical and financial success, and customer anticipation for its sequel was high. As personal computer hardware speeds improved at a rapid pace in the late 1990s, it created an "arms race" between companies in the video game industry, according to Wired News. 3D Realms repeatedly moved the release date back over the next 12 years to add new, more advanced features. By the time 3D Realms went out of business in 2009 with the game still unreleased, Duke Nukem Forever had become synonymous with the word "vaporware" among industry writers. The game was revived and released in 2011. However, due to a 13-year period of fan anticipation and design changes in the industry, the game received a mostly negative reception from critics and fans.

A company notorious for vaporware can improve its reputation. In the 1980s, video game maker Westwood Studios was known for shipping products late. However, by 1993, it had so improved that Computer Gaming World reported "many publishers would assure [us] that a project was going to be completed on time because Westwood was doing it".

Early announcement

Announcing products early—months or years before their release date, also called "preannouncing", The first company to release a product in a given market often gains an advantage. It can set the standard for similar future products, attract a large number of customers, and establish its brand before competitor's products are released. Microsoft described this in 1995, during United States v. Microsoft, as "not in fact vaporware, but pre-disclosure" if not done with "a desire to mislead". Gates said in 1987 that while his company did not preannounce applications, "In the case of systems software, I think you've got to make statements of direction ... We really bring people in and go into it in great detail". Alsop proposed in 1995 that instead of early public announcements, companies should, using nondisclosure agreements, privately notify important customers. In addition to the "vaporware" label, this is also called "ambush marketing", and "fear, uncertainty and doubt" (FUD) by the press. In 1994, as customer anticipation increased for Microsoft's new version of Windows (codenamed "Chicago"), Apple announced a set of upgrades to its own System 7 operating system that were not due to be released until nearly two years later. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Apple did this to "blunt Chicago's momentum".

A premature announcement can cause others to respond with their own. When VisiCorp announced Visi On in November 1982, it promised to ship the product by spring 1983. The news forced Quarterdeck Office Systems to announce in April 1983 that its DESQ would ship in November 1983. Microsoft responded by announcing Windows 1.0 in fall 1983, and Ovation Technologies followed by announcing Ovation in November. InfoWorld noted in May 1984 that of the four products only Visi On had shipped, albeit more than a year late and with only two supported applications. In 1985 Stewart Alsop began publishing his influential monthly Vaporlist, a list of companies he felt announced their products too early, hoping to dissuade them from the practice; Wired Magazine began publishing a similar list in 1997. Seven major software developers—including Ashton-Tate, Hewlett-Packard, and Sybase—formed a council in 1990, and issued a report condemning the "vacuous product announcement dubbed vaporware and other misrepresentations of product availability" because they felt it had hurt the industry's credibility.

Antitrust allegations

In the United States, announcing a product that does not exist to gain a competitive advantage is illegal via Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, but few hardware or software developers have been found guilty of it. The section requires proof that the announcement is both provably false, and has actual or likely market impact.

False or misleading announcements designed to influence stock prices are illegal under United States securities fraud laws. The complex and changing nature of the computer industry, marketing techniques, and lack of precedent for applying these laws to the industry can mean developers are not aware their actions are illegal. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement in 1984 with the goal of reminding companies that securities fraud also applies to "statements that can reasonably be expected to reach investors and the trading markets".

Several companies have been accused in court of using knowingly false announcements to gain market advantage. In 1969, the United States Justice Department accused IBM of doing this in the case United States v. IBM. After IBM's competitor, Control Data Corporation (CDC), released a computer, IBM announced the System/360 Model 91. The announcement resulted in a significant reduction in sales of CDC's product. The Justice Department accused IBM of doing this intentionally because the System/360 Model 91 was not released until two years later. IBM avoided preannouncing products during the antitrust case, but after the case ended it resumed the practice. The company likely announced its PCjr in November 1983—four months before general availability in March 1984—to hurt sales of rival home computers during the important Christmas sales season. In 1985 The New York Times wrote:

The practice was not called "vaporware" at the time, but publications have since used the word to refer specifically to it. Similar cases have been filed against Kodak, AT&T, and Xerox. One of the accusations made during the trial was that Microsoft has illegally used early announcements. The review began when three anonymous companies protested the settlement, claiming the government did not thoroughly investigate Microsoft's use of the practice. Specifically, they claimed Microsoft announced its Quick Basic 3 program to slow sales of its competitor Borland's recently released Turbo Basic program. tags, and the template below.

</nowiki>-->

References

  • Community Memory postings from 1996 on the term's origins crediting Ann Winblad and Stewart Alsop.
  • RELease 1.0 November 1983 — a scanned copy of Esther Dyson's original article

Wired Magazine Vaporware Awards

  • Vaporware 1997: We Hardly Knew Ye
  • Vaporware 1998: Windows NT Wins
  • Vaporware 1999: The 'Winners'
  • Vaporware 2000: Missing Inaction
  • Vaporware 2001: Empty Promises
  • Vaporware 2002: Tech up in Smoke?
  • Vaporware 2003: Nuke 'Em if Ya Got 'Em
  • Vaporware 2004: Phantom Haunts Us All
  • Vaporware 2005: Better Late Than Never
  • Vaporware 2006: Return of the King
  • Vaporware 2007: Long Live the King
  • Vaporware 2008: Crushing Disappointments, False Promises and Plain Old BS
  • Vaporware 2009: Inhale the Fail
  • Vaporware 2010: The Great White Duke