Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Google pushes forward with plans for world domination
Earlier this week, they announced the arrival of the new, improved Google Desktop, which probably means Google is moving ever closer to an OS-type system. All the bandwidth this week, however, has been saturated by Google's latest challenge to AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo: Google Talk, the new communications tool that bundles Gmail with an instant messaging system. The good news with Google Talk is that it sports a clean interface, is a quick download, doesn't have unnecessary clutter and provides exceptional voice quality. What's more, the software (which runs on a Jabber server) is based on open standards and will work with GAIM (instructions here), for instance. I haven't tried it with Trillian yet, so I don't know.
However, I have to say this is the first Google product that didn't absolutely floor me. There are just too many things that one is used to that Google Talk does not provide. For starters, it can't be used on a Mac or a Linux machine. It doesn't allow you to send files or use video chat. It doesn't feature a mobile version and neither does it allow you to send text to a mobile phone. What's more, the VoIP feature does not allow you to call a landline. Surprisingly enough, for a search company product, Google Talk doesn't even have a search feature built in.
I am sure all of these problems are currently being worked on at the Googleplex and will probably be incorporated into the full release of Google Talk. For now though, don't be in too much of a hurry to abandon Yahoo Messenger and/or Skype just yet.
However, I have to say this is the first Google product that didn't absolutely floor me. There are just too many things that one is used to that Google Talk does not provide. For starters, it can't be used on a Mac or a Linux machine. It doesn't allow you to send files or use video chat. It doesn't feature a mobile version and neither does it allow you to send text to a mobile phone. What's more, the VoIP feature does not allow you to call a landline. Surprisingly enough, for a search company product, Google Talk doesn't even have a search feature built in.
I am sure all of these problems are currently being worked on at the Googleplex and will probably be incorporated into the full release of Google Talk. For now though, don't be in too much of a hurry to abandon Yahoo Messenger and/or Skype just yet.
