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What's the point of too early product releases?

The Christmas that Wasn't. It's been decades, literally, since I last experienced what happened this past Christmas. When was the last time you've been taunted by some toy (NintendoWii , PS3) that you couldn't even own? This past holiday season was riddled with the spectre of other very major products too, like Windows Vista, which was supposed to ship last Fall but got delayed. Rumors abounded about the iPhone, but after MacWorld (and CES ) we still have to wait months to get our hands on this tech fantasy item. What's the point? When did false expectations become normal communication? Is this a trend that will continue? Will consumers learn and copy this behavior? Will this become, normal?

Here's an example to illustrate why I think this way of communicating is bad. Imagine your friend Sally rang you up and you have this conversation:

Sally: "I have something really important to tell you!"
You: "What is it? What's going on?"
Sally: "Wait. OK. I think I can tell you now."
You: "Um, OK. Great tell me."
Sally: "I'm going to get engaged in three months!"
You: "OK. That's great (I think)" You scratch your head and wonder HOW SHOULD I ACT?

If Sally was ready to tell her story then you wouldn't have to wonder anything, let alone what YOU should do.

Clear communication makes people feel comfortable, it engenders trust, and helps foster good relationships. Bad communication just wastes peoples time and undermines alot of hard work.

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