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.