Jeff Jarvis has this to say in a post combining the topics Beta-Think and End Malaria Day:

The modern cure to Voltaire’s paradox [“Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien,” or “the best is the enemy of the good”]—and a gift of the digital age—is the beta: the unfinished and imperfect product or process that is opened up so customers can offer advice and improvements.

Those of us who have worked in bricks and mortar environments, especially hospitality businesses, might wonder: did he never hear of a “soft opening” before?  Those have been around since long before the digital age.  But he likely means, and we agree, that digital and especially social media facilitate more effective soft openings of all kinds, everywhere.