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The People's Exhibit A
davidology
Aug. 23rd, 2005
Google IM  
Slashdot is reporting that Google's IM server is up. It's a Jabber server, as expected. Although I don't think I've even gotten one IM on my Jabber account ever, but if you add my gmail account, now I have two that won't get used.

Anyway, I'm signed on to it now, just to see if I can. You'll need a Jabber client (I'm using GAIM since I already have it installed).

If you're bored and want to try it out, here are the settings that work for me:

   Protocol: Jabber
Screen Name: (gmail account—leave out @gmail.com)
   Resource: Gaim
   Password: (your gmail password)

(Show more options)
[X] Use TLS
[ ] Force old SSL
[ ] Allow plaintext auth

       Port: 5222
Connect Svr: talk.google.com

(You don't have to register with the server... just connect).

Uhm.. yeah, so back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Tags:
 
 
Mood: geeky
 
Posted by The People's Exhibit A at 09:46 pm | Permalink | 6 comments | Leave a comment
 
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erikelo_sf on August 24th, 2005 - 05:39 am
I had to use port 5223 (default per iChat)
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allamericanjock on August 24th, 2005 - 03:24 pm
What's google's angle on this?

I haven't tried it, and I don't know much about it, but I'd be disappointed in Google if they were making "just another chat client" just for the sake of doing it.

With gmail, they have an angle: tag, search and archive your emails, instead of putting them into folders or deleting them. With all of the stuff in Google Labs, they have their angle... it's all centered on their search technology.

So what's their angle with the chat client?
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The People's Exhibit Adavidology on August 24th, 2005 - 03:35 pm
In my cynical opinion, gmail and this im client are just ways to try to tie you to the google service. With all the studies showing that search users are fickle and would leave google for another if they were offered a better service, they realized they had a huge liability. Yahoo, AOL and MSN are portals that has a userbase tied to its service by email address. Google needed the same hook. I think that's why they launched gmail, orkut, and now the im client. In a lot of ways it's playing catch up.

Their hook seems to be, from what you can see in their invite emails, is free voice over IP, which Yahoo and MSN messenger already do. I'm sure in the future they'll try to tie it to their desktop app as well.

I've secured my name space on the google im just in case, but I think they've just introduced yet another im client into the wild.
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allamericanjock on August 24th, 2005 - 03:49 pm
Well, maybe it's just a bit idealistic on my part, but shouldn't they be focusing their enegies on staying the best search engine, if they want to keep their userbase? No, no, I understand the "business" angle on it, I'm just sayin'....


Also: you say you've secured your name space on the google IM, but don't you just use your gmail account login? I've already got two gmail addresses, aren't they therefore already reserved for me, if I choose to use the google IM?
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The People's Exhibit Adavidology on August 24th, 2005 - 04:57 pm
That's what some of the trades I'm reading are criticizing them for. It's tough. I know I generally start with Google, but if I find too much spam, I pop over to yahoo, dogpile, ask.com, sometimes blinx.

Re: securing. yes, they are, but I wanted to make sure, AND I added "davidology" to the mix. I just have to remember to login to the gmail once in a while to keep them. I forget to do that since I don't really use them for email.
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Bobbyshouldvesmiled on August 24th, 2005 - 04:58 pm
I have no idea what that is but it looks very nice :)
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