Software - - Google Talk

Kraellin · #1 10-06-2006, 03:58 PM

ok, this one sort of interested me: http://www.google.com/talk/#utm_sour...tm_campaign=en

google has been pushing the envelope for a while and coming up with, or taking advantage of lots of different technologies. this one seems to be a variation of not only voice over IP (voip) but also instant messengers (im).

i've not tried it, so i really dont know how good, bad, or buggy it might or might not be. if you do, post something. i'd love to see how well it works.

craig

Photo678 · #2 10-06-2006, 04:18 PM

It's actually been out for over a year or so. It's decent, but you can only chat with other gmail users...and most people are already stuck in their ways with AIM, or yahoo or MSN.

It's nice though, clean interface, small footprint.

creeduk · #3 10-06-2006, 05:03 PM

I have used it for while now, mainly I use the chat function from inside gmail. When you add other gmail contacts you can see if they are on-line or checking their email, if so you can instant chat with them and it stores the chats just like mail. Quick and easy.

Littlecoo · #4 10-06-2006, 05:38 PM

I use it and it's not too bad, all things being equal, and it works well. For me (I have 24000k broadband connection) all voice tx is clear so far. No spam, no ads (and very few idiots) I also agree with Photo678. I haven't come into any problems or ugliness with gmail or gtalk. I guess the only downside is gtalk's relatively low popularity thus far (it is rather new) not too many users out there and not too well known and still in beta. I am a cynical person so am always on the lookout for anything sus... haven't dug up anything significant yet.

Kraellin · #5 10-07-2006, 10:04 AM

interesting points. thanks!

anyone else have any first-hand experience with this?

i also never heard if g-mail was out of beta. of course, i never really bothered to look either, but is it and how difficult to get one now? i know folks were giving them away during beta.

craig

Vikki · #6 10-07-2006, 10:27 AM

If I'm not mistaken, there is an old thread similar to this...

I've been using Google Talk for quite a while now, and I can't say enough good things about it. (I'm connected via cable modem.) I've been using it to talk with family and friends in other states.
The reception is excellent (better than a telephone).
Only the people I choose can call me.
You can talk as long as you like.
With a speaker and a microphone you are hands free and not tethered to any equipment whatsoever.
You can send a voice email message to anyone.
Opening Google Talk and Google Hello at the same time allows you to drag and drop photos, music, weblinks, and really any type of file, and discuss them at the same time.
I love it!

Doug Nelson · #7 10-07-2006, 10:38 AM

What I'd like is a free voice chat program that allowed multiple people to be on together at the same time, perhaps with a "turns" function that would allow one person to speak until they turn the "mic" over to another person that has requested it. So you could have 20-30 people talking together but not audio chaos.

Kraellin · #8 10-07-2006, 11:20 AM

vikki, thank you! i didnt even know 'google hello' existed.

and doug, like mirc only with audio. yes, i agree.

now, extend this out a bit; this is an interesting concept here and something that's been brewing in my head for a while... what if a forum like RP had voice? and what if you had an application that was tailorable to some place like RP? what vikki's mentioned is a pretty slick application or applications. and what if was all drag and drop from another application, like photoshop? we currently upload pictures to ps or psp or whatever, work on them and then post them back on RP. or we send them to friends and family or post them on imageshack first and then link to them. what if all this could be made more seamless?

i have a paint program. i have ftp programs. i have mirc. voice chat is getting more accessible and reliable. instant messengers have been around for a while but they were always text. mirc was always text. there are file transfer sites on the net. galleries on the net. image sharing on the net. web cams on the net. how cool would it be to have all this in one drag and drop package and a forum that was tailored to this? you've also got the potential for desktop sharing, virtual machines and other things i'm probably not even thinking about. imagine being able to come to RP and chat in real time with vikki or doug through a web cam with audio in real time, streaming, look at the pictures posted on THEIR machine rather than here in RP with the limits on file sizes, talk to them, get help, give help, get an 'instant tutorial' by actually watching someone work in PS or PSP and so on.

think about this, i've teased flora, for instance, about coming to africa (or wherever she happens to be that day

) and looking over her shoulder while she touches up some difficult image. imagine being able to do that over the web! and then image having 30 people all watching while she walks through something like that AND being able to kibitz (flora may not like this part

) and ask questions, with the audio chaos doug mentioned! that's powerful!

basically, every machine, every person on RP would become a sort of intranet (not internet) with everyone being a web server for hosting images on their drives and real time audio and video, text, and so on and so forth.

klassylady comes in with a new image to work on from OPR. she's got it on her server and is working on it in ps. she wants to know where to go; she's done a bit on it but is somewhat stuck on what's next. anyone logged in at the time could just simply tell her by audio in real time, or, and this is the part that is somewhat staggering, take over HER ps for a moment and show her by using HER ps to do it! yeah, i know that could get annoying, having 30 'teachers' all telling you to do something different each time and i realize the risks as well, but the power of the thing is quite staggering! it would be literally, an online classroom!

ok, i've got doug worried that we're all going to move from RP to an intranet that ignores RP

quite the contrary. you still need a host; some one site that can set up ALL the connections, much like napster and bittorrent do with multiple wide area file sharing. and, there's still no good substitute at times for the power of the written word. audio goes away. text hangs around. so, you're not going to lose the forums. those are still essential. in fact, you'd probably have to increase the size of the forums and storage capacity. video storage eats harddrives

oddly, i keep thinking of microsoft while i'm talking about all this. i actually think i may now understand some of Bill's thinking and recent moves.

it's an interesting subject and makes me wonder where will the internet be in 20 years?

craig