A Year and a Half in Beta

Gmail –Google’s free e-mail service- was unveiled on April 1st, 2004. Since then, it has been labeled as a “Beta” release, meaning the service is still being tested. But so far, it has been under evaluation for more than 18 months!
(No… we do not need an invite. We have Gmail already. Thanks!)
Some observers have pointed out that Gmail still uses the “Beta” name to minimize the negative effect on users if something goes wrong with the service (“See? It wasn’t fit for general release yet! You should have known we were prone to a crash sooner or later because we are still in Beta testing!”)
However, we believe it still carries the Beta designator to increase the perception of newness of the service among users.
But, “newness” after 18 months?