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This seems right. The tricky part is what will they do in Gmail? Gmail is used by businesses and currently has Hangouts Chat built in. But Gmail is also used b

This seems right. The tricky part is what will they do in Gmail? Gmail is used by businesses and currently has Hangouts Chat built in. But Gmail is also used by consumers so will they have allo integrated into that too? Gmail seems like a big entry point for chat - not sure how they are going to solve that one if they split up the chat products as you suggested.

ucaetano 9y ago
No reason why you can't have a product which is focused on enterprise, but has a free consumer version. I'd guess that in the real world outside Hacker News and SV, very few people use email for consumer communication, that role has been taken over by messaging apps. Personal email became a personal business tool, and its usage isn't that different from the regular business usage. So gsuite, which includes gmail, the new hangouts products and google drive/docs is now focused on enterprise with a free consumer version available.
- y4mi 9y ago
  I think you're underestimating email. My almost 70 yrs old mother constantly exchanges mails with her friends. None of them use any chats.
andybak 9y ago
The point is that business and personal overlap for a lot of us. I don't want separate products. Are my professional contacts business if we're socializing? Are my personal contacts personal if they are also clients? I don't segregate my life cleanly into business/personal and I certainly don't want to double the number of installed apps because marketing.
- euyyn 9y ago
  Counterpoint: I don't message my group of friends over Slack to socialize. And I don't message my teammates and coworkers over Whatsapp groups to organize projects.
  - Vraxx 9y ago
    Counter-Counterpoint: My group of friends has a slack channel that we use essentially as an IRC chatroom where we organize long term events, plan evening activities, and chat about an assortment of topics. Nothing about Slack makes it less useful as a personal communication tool as opposed to business communication.
    - euyyn 9y ago
      Does something about this new app make it less useful as a personal communication tool as opposed to business communication, for the use case of how you communicate with your friends?
- jakebasile 9y ago
  "Hey George, how are those TPS reports coming? Also, do you wanna get drinks after work?" "I'll have those reports for you by EOD. Please send me a message on Facebook Messenger about that non-professional inquiry." I just don't see it happening like that. I have people I contact on both Messenger and Slack, and while I tend to keep professional communications to Slack and personal to Messenger, they bleed over.

ucaetano 9y ago

No reason why you can't have a product which is focused on enterprise, but has a free consumer version. I'd guess that in the real world outside Hacker News and SV, very few people use email for consumer communication, that role has been taken over by messaging apps. Personal email became a personal business tool, and its usage isn't that different from the regular business usage. So gsuite, which includes gmail, the new hangouts products and google drive/docs is now focused on enterprise with a free consumer version available.

y4mi 9y ago
I think you're underestimating email. My almost 70 yrs old mother constantly exchanges mails with her friends. None of them use any chats.

andybak 9y ago

The point is that business and personal overlap for a lot of us. I don't want separate products. Are my professional contacts business if we're socializing? Are my personal contacts personal if they are also clients? I don't segregate my life cleanly into business/personal and I certainly don't want to double the number of installed apps because marketing.

euyyn 9y ago
Counterpoint: I don't message my group of friends over Slack to socialize. And I don't message my teammates and coworkers over Whatsapp groups to organize projects.
- Vraxx 9y ago
  Counter-Counterpoint: My group of friends has a slack channel that we use essentially as an IRC chatroom where we organize long term events, plan evening activities, and chat about an assortment of topics. Nothing about Slack makes it less useful as a personal communication tool as opposed to business communication.
  - euyyn 9y ago
    Does something about this new app make it less useful as a personal communication tool as opposed to business communication, for the use case of how you communicate with your friends?
jakebasile 9y ago
"Hey George, how are those TPS reports coming? Also, do you wanna get drinks after work?" "I'll have those reports for you by EOD. Please send me a message on Facebook Messenger about that non-professional inquiry." I just don't see it happening like that. I have people I contact on both Messenger and Slack, and while I tend to keep professional communications to Slack and personal to Messenger, they bleed over.