Mail + Talk

2006.02.14

Guest post by Mahangu Weerasinghe

IM is a pain in the ass. On Ubuntu, I use GAIM for my instant messaging needs. To be honest, it’s not a very nice experience. On Windows, I tried MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and all sorts of other third party all-in-one programs. They all sucked.

When I’m studying or working, I usually keep GAIM closed. Apart from popping up windows all over the place whenever someone messages me, it also constantly disconnects (mainly due to crappy DSL) and reconnects, which is annoying.

Enter Gmail + Talk. This is a feature I’ve been (unknowingly) waiting for, for a long, long time. Now, when people ping me, their message windows open inside my Gmail tab in Firefox. Lovely. I could be researching Greek and Roman Drama or reading Penny Arcade - it doesn’t matter. The point is that I’m not disturbed.

A PITA messages me? I can ignore him or her. A ping from work? The page title displays it nicely. This, my friends, is one winning feature. The two gigs of space, the search facility - all these are nice and all, but well, not just unique to Gmail anymore.

The integrated IM feature however, is. Google, apart from being communists and all, are doing awesome things with Gmail. Not only will more people move to Gmail because of this, but more will embrace Instant Messaging in general. I’m already seeing people on my contact list that never showed up earlier.

The bottom line? People are lazy, and will probably not install new software unless they have to.

This is one step in bridging the gap (and indeed blurring the line) between Email and IM. Good show Google. Now, just splice this thing with a dash of Reader, and I’ll be happy forever.

Permanent Link | Filed under: Life, Thoughts

4 Comments

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  1. drac

    February 14th, 2006 at 2:53 pm

    Reader ? Gmail Webclips ? There you go.

    The only thing that worries me (if I bother thinking about it) is that all thought controlling corporate entities are now going to think hard about blocking GMail.. if IM is outright banned or limited to an approved service (for example, Yahoo Messenger only), this is a great excuse for the corporate MIS to add gmail.com to their block list.

    No Gmail, no GTalk.

  2. Mahangu

    February 14th, 2006 at 3:43 pm

    Drac,
    The problem with web clips is that ads also get slotted in, something which I don’t really like. :) I hadn’t thought about the corporate angle - yes, blocking by MIS could be a big possibility.

  3. prose

    February 14th, 2006 at 8:22 pm

    Yes, GAIM is a bloody PITA. Having each individual IM client hanging around on your system tray is no walk in the park either.

    You’re so right about suddenly seeing people online who would have been too lazy to install GTalk before. Now if only the kind people at Google would see fit to bestow this wonderful chat feature unto my Gmail account. It seems everyone but me has it already, damn you all.

    Reader was like a gift from above. If they could integrate it, as well as have a default feed for your Gmail inbox, life would be bloody wonderful.

    If we keep really quiet about GTalk in Gmail, maybe the corporates will not notice. Spread the word. Hush.

  4. serena

    March 1st, 2006 at 8:44 pm

    I don’t like GAIM, too clunky. I prefer Trillian, slimmer, slicker and better features. And I am able to morph all the clients into one, just like GAIM.

    GTalk seems cool so far, but I agree with above users, let’s hope it does not get blocked.