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Google Talk Available Early
smash writes "Google's new IM service is already live. All you need is a Jabber-compatible Instant Messaging client (such as Apple's iChat, or gaim), and a GMail address." This should answer, at least in part, all of the speculation that has been flying around the net over the last couple of days. Update: Many users have been eager to let us know that Google Talk in indeed live.
... with all the other IM servies I have to sign in on at once to be in contact with everyone. MSN, AIM, misc jabber servers... and on and on. I wonder what google thinks they're going to add to chat services?
All it is is proof that google has a public jabber server.. One can assume they will be releasing a client anyday now... Let them at least... ANNOUNCE the product before you judge it.
- what is the definition of simultanagnosia?! I've been meaning to look it up!
Ok, so their server works. That's the part that most of us don't care about. What sort of client will GIM be using? Isn't that what makes it or breaks it for most of us?
Yes, and there's a good chance it will stay this way. Its probably the best way to make sure that spammers don't start getting gmail accounts.
Its a method of 'verifying' users by having other users verify them (by making the service invite-only.) Its more secure than say, having to enter the text from some obscured image (which can be done en masse by paying somebody probably something small.)
So yes, at this point, anybody who really wants a gmail account has one, but spammers have largely been shut out.
The reason for their distribution pattern is a little to prevent abuse, a little to create a community network and to be honest, it was a really good beta testing idea.
It prevents spammers auto-registering a ton (if someone starts to invite a bunch of spam bots, you can easily trace and break the propagation chain) and prevented the server from being overloaded during the initial run.
From a Computer Science and Social Engineering standpoint, it was/is a good setup. Get over it.
Now if only I could figure out how to put on these damn pants. I can never seem to get them past my shoulders...
Hmmmm, as of this point it doesn't appear that you can have contacts on other jabber servers.
The whole point of jabber is that servers are distributed, the server name is part of the JID (Jabber ID) which means that JID's look a lot like email addresses.
I hope the inability to have contacts with non @gmail.com JID's is merely a pre-launch wrinkle.
Command attempted to use minibuffer while in minibuffer
I'm not sure how Google gets away with being so clandestine, yet people think they are not evil. It reminds me of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory... If Google is such a great open non evil company, how come their employees don't have public blogs like all those at MS? (In fact they fire the one person that had a semi famous blog) How come they are one of the most opaque companies on wall street in telling their shareholders what's going on? How come all their projects are so top secret despite the fact they end up just being another jabber knock off? I understand things like their search algorithim should be kept secret, but cripes why all the mystery?
I don't see what your point it?
In my opinion, using jabber in a mainstream IM client (ie, one that is going to be used by joe schmoe and susy ann in jr. high keyboarding class while the teacher isn't looking) is a dramatic step forward.
Google is competing head on with the services that yahoo, aol, and msn provide. Only they are doing it using open standards, and allowing 3rd party clients. From my perspective, this is equivilent of Google putting the rest on notice:
"Look, we aren't going to let you rape your users anymore. We are going to do what you do... Properly."
I think this is a great step forward. Sure, you might think it is a waste of time in the long run.. and you might be right. But something like this NEEDED to be done in order to get the other IM services to play fair. Everyone already knows that the other services would have never opened their protocols without something like this coming forward. The rest will be required to follow suit or bail out of the business. (you may not see it now, but it is coming.. just watch)
Your ignorance is infinitely greater than you realize.
Google needs to see your conversation in order to target an advert at you.
What would they try to sell you if all they saw was an encrypted stream?