In 1982, when asked about the state of the company’s Xenix operating system, a Microsoft engineer reportedly called it “vaporware“ to indicate that the operating system had really not yet materialized. Unfortunately, the term stuck for this and many other premature software launches.

It’s not only software that can go up in smoke before it’s even launched. Everything from automobiles to consumer-packaged goods (CPG) can vaporize because of ineffective rollouts or quality management issues.

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