Interesting Point: It supports the Jabber, for as long as you login with a valid gmail account. Man, these guys are slowly taking over EVERYTHING.
They're zerg-rushing our internets.
Gives more a reason to drop my hotmail account and go to gmail. Microsoft's domination of the internet will soon end!
ITT how about we put our gmail addresses in so we can talk together?
It's too bad they haven't enabled interoperation with other servers and services yet, but according to their FAQ they seem to claim they will, at some point in the future.
My gmail address is on http://wakaba.c3.cx/, moderately safe from spambots, but I've not set up my IM client to connect to Google Talk yet. I probably will soon.
>>5
Are you sure they are seriously gonna do interoperation with other IM services? Cos I am pretty sure AOL and Microsoft are not going to stand by idle and allow it to happen.
I mean I was sure with other universal IMs like Trillian, AOL and M$ did put some actions by purposingly blocking etc in the early years but then it seems cos Trillian are not as popular, the big companies seem to just ignore them now.
But if a big company like Google starts doing interoperation with the resources they have and the rising popularity in Gmail, I think AOL and M$ are gonna do something more drastic like legal actions or something. You think?
Well, I only have their admittedly vague word for it:
15. What new features are you working on?
We could tell you, but then you'd have to promise to not talk about it... Joking aside, Google Talk is still in beta, and we're working hard to add features and make improvements. We're just not quite ready yet to reveal the other cool things we've got planned. We can say this, though: we believe strongly in user choice and open standards, and we are committed to letting users access Google Talk using the client and platform of their choice, as well as to enabling our users to talk with users from other service providers.
> open standards
Excellent.
open standardsｷﾀ━━━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━━━ !!
Baruch.Spinoza
Unofficial Google Talk FAQ
Q1. What happened to "we only do search"?
A. In case you didn't notice, that philosophy was dead by the time Gmail came out, or even earlier. The new idea at Google is to do cool things, and do them well. Have you seen Keyhole, aka Google Earth? It was so awesome they couldn't pass it up.
Q2. Why a chat client?
A. Google recognizes that its users eagerly await any new cool thing Google might be preparing. People have been talking about a "Google IM" client for years. What's more, the major players in the IM network are distinctly "uncool": AOL, which is known to be deceptive and uncaring about customers, and Microsoft, which is deceptive and uncaring about competitors.
Q3. Why does it have no features?
A. There is the possibility that Google was in a hurry to release their client before ICQ and Gabu-Gabu died entirely, and AIM and MSN took over, and therefore took the precaution of not including any feature that hadn't been thoroughly tested. But this seems a little strange, considering the huge number of testers they must employ.
The more likely reason is that Google is simply minimizing the idea of IM to destroy the "look ma I'm online!" model that's been built up since the AOL days. Many of the "features" of other clients, such as file transfer, graphical emoticons, group browsing, and IMVironments, are about using IM to play on the computer. Google has recognized this as rubbish.
The way Google's About page reads, it sounds like they're purposefully playing dumb and starting over the IM or VoIP metaphors from scratch. "Now you can get in touch with someone instantly without having to reach for the phone. You don't even need to reach for another address book." The Contacts list, in the same way, doesn't work like a regular list where you group contacts to make them easier to find; rather, you type the name and search them, like a phonebook. This slight change to the IM metaphor may or may not be useful when future features are added. I don't see what great Googly things it has in store for us, but maybe I'm missing something.
Q4. Why did they get rid of Jabber's S2S? Such a useful feature!
A. To prevent spam and to promote the use of their own client.
Q5. Why did they get rid of Jabber's offline IM? Such a useful feature!
A. Do you like to call your friends when they're not at home? Google recognized that offline IM goes agains the new metaphor they're building. That's why there's a big, fat "Mail" button in the IM window. Which leads us to...
Q6. Is this supposed to promote Gmail?
A. Well, let's see. You need to make a Gmail account just to sign up, offline messages will go to your Gmail account out of user laziness... Gee whiz, I dunno.
Q7. Isn't that evil?
This might just be a beta thing to attract dedicated users, and S2S and non-Gmail addresses will work later. It's either that, or Google Talk is only for dedicated users.
Q8. What's planned for the future?
I know nothing, feel free to disprove anything I've written here.
Haha
I still think it's a good idea to lure many users with the GOOGLE™ brand into the open standard IM client realm. Jabber hasn't really been catching on that much with Psi and whatnot.
And we'll see what features they'll be adding. As of now, 99% of the IM users still use the major big ones, AIM, MSN, ICQ and that will only change if Google will provide means of opening communication with those clients eventually. In the mean time, yes, it's just about luring in as many EXCITED beta users, such as me, who will spread the word.
/me imagines Sharon Apple singing "Google Talk"..
It's a pity they are becoming a bit of a monopoly on the internet.
It's because they're doing things right.
>>16
and google doesn't go round trying to make quick buck directly from consumers. Unlike the big 3.
I really like it but it lacks:
>>18
All those features are suppose to be coming in the future versions for sure. I think Google just wanted to release what they perceive the main core functions to the beta release.
http://www.drunkenblog.com/drunkenblog-archives/000637.html
Is this really a "9 out of 10" prediction?
>>20
Do you mean whether the scenario of AOL/ICQ, MSN and Yahoo going to block out all third-party IM clients would be likely?
No, I don't think so. But the "triumvirate" will have to come up with something, eventually. I figure they'll just try and make their clients "better" than Google's and integrate their functions more with their other services.
>>20
What I don't understand is why does the triumvirate refuse to not want to join GoogleTalk but isntead make their own multi IM?
>>22
They aren't making their own IM, they're "agreeing to disagree", that is, block outside clients (including Google).
The article is based on the assumption that Google Talk will be multiprotocol soon.
Some interesting tipps & tricks for Google Talk:
Copypasted from here:
http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2005-08-24-n57.html
durrrr, somehow intending a tab in a list item won't work... or it screwed up the tab into a single space, I dunno....
To write something bold, you can use an asterisk before and after the word, like this .
To use italics, use an underscore before an after the word, like this .
PS (from the commments section of the link):
If you click in the main chat text and select some text:
ctrl+e = center justify
ctrl+r = right justify
ctrl+j = left justify
ctrl+1 = single space
ctrl+2 = double space
ctrl+5 = 1.5x space
Also, this site has a lot more tweaking tipps:
http://www.customizetalk.com/pages/
And the lack of backslashes burns another poor soul...
Does anyone have a clue where GoogleTalk saves the chat histories?
GoogleGuy's had a little to say about Talk:
"I'm glad that it's out available for people to start playing with, and that it's using Jabber so it's open. If you didn't see lovehealthsuccess's post, http://www.google.com/talk/about.html talks a little about the future (see esp. the stuff at the bottom of that page). "
This is entirely useless information, of course. All it means is that Google considers the about page enough of an explanation for someone who wants one.