4 ms·

The email protocols pre-date commercial access to the internet. So incentives were very different when it was created.

by ethbro 7y ago

buboard 7y ago
so does IRC. I believe even if it adopted IRC as a protocol, slack would still be successful, it's all about the UI being dumb-proof, friendly and capable and seemingly in-vogue. Discord, even more.
- ethbro 7y ago
  If Slack adopted the IRC protocol, it would be subject to the same issue Microsoft had with the early web -- either implementing proprietary extensions to the spec to enable features, kludging in new features by abusing existing functionality, or waiting for spec consensus before expanding. And furthermore, it'd be reimplemented almost instantly by Facebook / Apple / Microsoft / Google. So I can see why they decided to chart a different path.
  - buboard 7y ago
    > it'd be reimplemented almost instantly by Facebook wait, how? It's not like there was/is a lot of ppl on IRC, just a handful, and it doesnt fit into their product (talking with strangers)
    - ethbro 7y ago
      Clearly defined spec + order of magnitude funding difference + new market = ideal product cloning opportunity As has been mentioned here, Facebook is running out of strangers to connect: future growth will depend on adding new types of users.
- fnord123 7y ago
  >it's all about the UI being dumb-proof Make something idiot-proof and the world will make a better idiot. And it looks like I'm the bigger idiot here because I don't understand the interface at all. I'm in two servers for two open source projects but my ID seems to be different for the two servers and not federated for some reason. Or is it? I don't really know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - buboard 7y ago
    Yeah because u re smart enough to understand the IRC so you naturally expect a single identity. Try to empathize with us mere mortals who still have not fully grasped the concept of the emoji.

4 ms·

The email protocols pre-date commercial access to the internet. So incentives were very different when it was created.

by ethbro 7y ago

The email protocols pre-date commercial access to the internet. So incentives were very different when it was created.

buboard 7y ago
so does IRC. I believe even if it adopted IRC as a protocol, slack would still be successful, it's all about the UI being dumb-proof, friendly and capable and seemingly in-vogue. Discord, even more.
- ethbro 7y ago
  If Slack adopted the IRC protocol, it would be subject to the same issue Microsoft had with the early web -- either implementing proprietary extensions to the spec to enable features, kludging in new features by abusing existing functionality, or waiting for spec consensus before expanding. And furthermore, it'd be reimplemented almost instantly by Facebook / Apple / Microsoft / Google. So I can see why they decided to chart a different path.
  - buboard 7y ago
    > it'd be reimplemented almost instantly by Facebook wait, how? It's not like there was/is a lot of ppl on IRC, just a handful, and it doesnt fit into their product (talking with strangers)
    - ethbro 7y ago
      Clearly defined spec + order of magnitude funding difference + new market = ideal product cloning opportunity As has been mentioned here, Facebook is running out of strangers to connect: future growth will depend on adding new types of users.
- fnord123 7y ago
  >it's all about the UI being dumb-proof Make something idiot-proof and the world will make a better idiot. And it looks like I'm the bigger idiot here because I don't understand the interface at all. I'm in two servers for two open source projects but my ID seems to be different for the two servers and not federated for some reason. Or is it? I don't really know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - buboard 7y ago
    Yeah because u re smart enough to understand the IRC so you naturally expect a single identity. Try to empathize with us mere mortals who still have not fully grasped the concept of the emoji.