I have worked 11 years in product development in various roles (Hardware, Test, Production, Firmware and Mechanical often simultaneously). I can confidently tell you that this is how product development is in the real world (even amongst the big players). This schedule puri.sm publised is something you would never normally see, but I guarantee you exists for every product.

This is why, even though I am a lover of technology, I am not an early adopter. I normally buy a product when it has been on the market for 6-12 months as, in my expirience at least, you are on about revision 3-5 by then. The last minute changes for compliance are no longer done by hand, the first major issues from the field are fixed, mechanical tools are stable etc.

I know this place is majority software engineers so here's an analogy I'm sure many can relate to: How often have you shipped software to a customer that is beta? Or even alpha? Product development is no different :)