Gabber!

by Matt Mecham on August 24, 2005

I can’t believe it!

Google has revealed their new IM / telephony chat service: Google Talk

It’s simply amazing! Of course, it’s just a Jabber client – but it’s Google Jabber! Gabber!

Unfortunately, the beautiful 1995 styled IM client Google offer is only for windows, so I rushed – nay – stampeded my way over to my Adium client and, shaking with visceral excitement, I entered my Gabber details pausing only to mop my brow which was slick with anticipation.

For a fanciful fleeting second I considered turning off my AIM and MSN accounts already running – after all, I wouldn’t want the obnoxious evil of MSN even TOUCHING my shiny new Gabber account! I decided that my quick disappearance mid-conversation would spark consternation and left them enabled.

For a second nothing happened. “OMG” I abbreviated to myself. “WFT!!” I mentally punctuated. Then, it happened. A beep signalled that I was logged in! A Gabber beep!!

Quickly as my stubby digits would allow, I entered the name of my first buddy: ZefHemel@gmail.com. A second later another beep showed me that he was now online!

I couldn’t contain my excitement anymore and blurted out in carefully typed words: “I can’t believe I’m typing via Google!!!!!!!!”

I wonder if someone will release an Adium skin that looks like the Google Talk client! After all, on Adium my Gabber account looks identical to my MSN and AIM accounts!

Still, it’s Google! Yay!

{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Rikki August 24, 2005 at 1:57 pm

AOLhell and MenSN is teh suckz ROFL!!!111

Goggle rulez!

2 Zef Hemel August 24, 2005 at 2:06 pm

I don’t know what it is. It’s the missing link, the fifth element. It adds that last touch of perfection to every message you send.

3 Matt August 24, 2005 at 2:09 pm

True!

I may have the looks of a deformed ox,the charm of a dead cabbage and the typographical skills of a lummox – but now, thanks to Google, I am cooler than a freezer full of ice. In the north pole. In winter. At night. During a snow storm. On the coldest day of the year. Etc.

4 Jack Chapple August 24, 2005 at 2:30 pm

LOL! OMFG … Google Talk r0xx0rs t3h b1g!!111oneone :D

5 Lewis August 24, 2005 at 2:38 pm

Google suck! They’re supposed to be this all mighty company yet they can’t even develop products to work on 98? Well screw you google! Microsoft may be money hungry bastards, but atleast they consider the people stuck on older OSes.

6 Rikki August 24, 2005 at 2:43 pm

You’ve got to admire Google though – what other company can release fairly average, 5-year-old products and still be worshipped as demigods for doing it?

Their software development department might not be all they’re cracked up to be (excluding the search which they still do best), but their marketing/PR department are lightyears ahead of others.

7 Cooldude7273/Cybertimber2005 August 24, 2005 at 2:55 pm

“I may have the looks of a deformed ox,the charm of a dead cabbage and the typographical skills of a lummox – but now, thanks to Google, I am cooler than a freezer full of ice. In the north pole. In winter. At night. During a snow storm. On the coldest day of the year. Etc.”

That ultimatley shows how excited you are.

8 Adam Kinder August 24, 2005 at 2:57 pm

I’ll always remember Google for making the “BETA” tag on public releases cool :)

9 Mike aka nicoo August 24, 2005 at 3:02 pm

Google is today worshipped as demigods for the release of IM/VoIP not because it works, but because of their great move. The move to OPEN standandards.
It is called “Don’t be evil” … at some time they will need to be evil, and this will be a difficult time, but for now, they’re doing everything just right

10 Matt August 24, 2005 at 3:06 pm

Google is evil. “Leg Goo” is an anagram of Google!

Mind you, so is “Go Lego” which, as any kid of the 80s will tell you, Lego rocks. It’s like a computer game without cheats or a computer.

11 Matt August 24, 2005 at 3:08 pm

You can also re-create Tetris with lego.

Just hold up suitably shaped pieces and make beeping noises as you lower them to the floor.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Click.

12 Dan August 24, 2005 at 3:17 pm

You do that too? :o

13 Don WIlson August 24, 2005 at 3:33 pm

I would have expected a better program than this horridly designed interface, but then again Google doesn’t do the best job in the design department. Yahoo and MSN has Google beat by miles.

14 Don Wilson August 24, 2005 at 3:34 pm

Albeit, I’ll be impressed when they allow msn/yim/aol buddies in as well, but I still won’t use it. I like having the unique features of each messenger app.

15 Dan August 24, 2005 at 3:52 pm

Matt. I love you. You’re funnier than Chris, well sometimes.

16 James August 24, 2005 at 4:10 pm

Best. Entry. Ever. (*wub* it!)

Mind you, so is “Go Lego” which, as any kid of the 80s will tell you, Lego rocks. It’s like a computer game without cheats or a computer.

w00t, lego!

17 Michael Merritt August 24, 2005 at 4:22 pm

So, you think it’s pretty awesome as well, huh Matt?

18 Matt August 24, 2005 at 4:36 pm

It kicks so much ass, the local hospitals have been filling up with ass-less patients.

19 Franklin August 24, 2005 at 5:59 pm

The best feature Google has coded into this IM and the only one I can’t find in MSN, Y!, Psi or yes even Adium is “simplicity” (or Gimplicity :P ). I’m using this GTalk/Gabber now on my parent’s pc so they can enter the world of chatting without the need to learn first how to _navigate_ through the software!

Google did it again!
Now if it would only support avatars…

20 James August 24, 2005 at 7:38 pm

Bah, it doesn’t need avatars! It needs multiple people in a conversation and smilies. That’s it!

21 Franklin August 24, 2005 at 10:52 pm

Avatars help recognising people in a meeting when their names don’t say anything to you.

22 Phil August 24, 2005 at 11:58 pm

They take simplicity to a whole new level. Leaving out features – genius!

NEW: Invision Power Board ‘Lite’ Public Release BETA 4 Edition 1.0 Build Date 24/19/05 23:57

Un-needed and rarely used functions such post new topic, post reply, post poll removed. Cleaner interface design, multi-coloured fonts.

23 Michael August 25, 2005 at 4:21 am

I like the simple and useable interface, it doesn’t have anything confusing to clog it up and it looks reasonably good.

24 tom-riddle August 25, 2005 at 5:48 am

I’m with Phil. Nothing good to say about it… I think I’d better delete this…thing…and reinstall my Gmail Notifier.

By the way, Lego really, really rocks!

25 Marshall August 25, 2005 at 10:09 am

Uhmm, i really hope that was a sarcastic post.

Ok with a few other basic features it could really take off, and not the usual “Oh it’s Google it must rock!”. But somehow i doubt many people will suddenly switch to using this from other IM systems.

Deleted GoogleTalk, Adium account removed.

26 Franklin August 25, 2005 at 10:46 am

@Phil: No, it is not lacking vital functions like in your example of an IPB Lite..

27 ChrisG August 25, 2005 at 4:05 pm

Hi MAT..I was searching the net and found a reference
that you have worked on MystCommunity a lot,
do you know why they are down for a day and now
two currently???Sorry to be off topic??
thanx

28 Zoruglu August 25, 2005 at 11:47 pm

Ahh, Lego!! it is indeed the coolest thing that I’ve had to play with in the 80’s!! :p

29 Roman August 26, 2005 at 1:50 am

Google is going to take over the world… scratch that, the internet. They’ve got Google Earth!

But I heard they are making an OS and a browser. Can’t wait for those. I love google to death and would trust them with my life…
—-

“It kicks so much ass, the local hospitals have been filling up with ass-less patients.”
-Matt Mecham

Pure genious Matt, had me fallin out a my chair for hours

30 Lewis August 27, 2005 at 5:15 pm

Hey Matt, I’m so desperate now, that anything seems worth a shot. How do you get the AJAX parser to send characters such as ” … to PHP, and have PHP decode it, without problems? I’ve written a function to encode it to UTF8 (” …) but html_entity_decode won’t turn them in to actual characters. I’ve looked at IPB 2.1 and it parses them fine, but I can’t work out how!

31 Lewis August 27, 2005 at 5:19 pm

Damn thing parsed them, I’ve encoded them to ” … but html_entity_decode won’t convert them back to ” … again. Any help on how you did it please??

As I said… worth a try :P

32 Lewis August 27, 2005 at 6:59 pm

Oh, looks like you just leave them as html entities…

33 Wolfie August 29, 2005 at 4:14 am

So Matt, what’s your GoogleTalk info? >:)

34 Vladimir Lushnikov August 30, 2005 at 9:35 am

Matt, I would also be interested to know it :P

35 Peter Hall August 30, 2005 at 4:30 pm

Pah, the people so brazenly asking for the google talk account of Matt himself. pfft! I still have to work my way up to wolfie, never mind Matt.

36 John August 31, 2005 at 12:44 am

It definetly needs nomicons

37 Lewis September 2, 2005 at 11:43 am

Take a ugess, I’ll give you a clue… it ends in @gmail.com ;)

I guessed, and added someone called Matt Mecham, wether or not it’s the right one, I don’t know :P

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