Chat Email = Crazy Delicious
Posted by Jon Perlow, Software
Engineer, Gmail and Google Talk
When we launched Google
Talk, some people told us what a great idea it'd be to add
chat to Gmail. True that. So a
couple of us Google Talk engineers approached the Gmail team. They
were excited about the idea, and we got to work immediately –
spending a lot of not-so-lazy Sundays huddled in a conference
room.
At the start, I thought a lot about all the things that bother me
about chats. My own chats contained a lot of important information
that was always getting lost. I found myself cutting, pasting and
emailing important chats to myself so I could find them later.
Another thing that bothered me is that whenever I wanted to get in
touch with someone, I had to pick a specific application. For
email, I'd have to sign into Gmail. For IM, I had to choose
between the two or three programs I used regularly.
It seems these things didn't bother only me, but a lot of other
people too. Which is why, within a few weeks, when you log into
Gmail you'll find a list of your most important contacts on the
left-hand side of the window, and you can
away with those who are online. You can also save, search for,
and view your chat histories just like your Gmail messages.
In line with our belief that communication networks should be open,
my fellow geeks will be happy to know that Gmail is now just
another XMPP client that connects to the
Talk network. So Gmail users will be able to chat with any of
the millions of users on the Google Talk and Jabber networks.
Now that it's launching, we're going to quit working
Sundays. Maybe even throw back a few Mr. Pibbs and celebrate with
Red Vines.
Tags: , engineer, Gmail, google, Jon, Perlow, Posted, software