Has geekdom come down to this — that we’re defined (or demeaned) by the presence or absence of an invite to participate in a software release?

Thus has it always been with Google.

Were you one of The Chosen Ones who received an early GMail invitation? No? Allow us to sneer, from our privileged position as one of those special GMailites (or cringe in shame when we reveal we were also amongst the unworthy back in the day).

Now it’s all happening again.

From a marketing perspective, we note, with a tiny gleam in our eyes, that consumers are frantically tweeting up favors, burning off their friends, in a desperate effort to receive a Google Wave invite. The going rate on eBay, as the Early Adopted cash in on their Most-Favored-By-Google status, seems to be around $80 to $100. And still the demand persists. With not an ad campaign in sight.

Meanwhile, Microsoft encourages its employees to invite their friends home to share the delights of Windows 7. With, it must be admitted, a bit of resistance and a certain amount of criticism along the way.

Guess it’s all in the brand image.

Tags: ad campaign, brand image, cringe, ebay, gmail invitation, Google Wave, Microsoft, software release, Windows 7