5 ms·

Yeah. I remember looking at the Slack IPO and saying to myself, "Your F'ing kidding me. They went public for doing IRC channels in a web browser with emojis?!

Yeah. I remember looking at the Slack IPO and saying to myself, "Your F'ing kidding me. They went public for doing IRC channels in a web browser with emojis?!?!"

scubbo 5y ago
This isn't _as_ short-sighted as the famous "Dropbox comment"[1], but it's pretty close. a) Slack _clearly_ offers a lot of meaningful functionality over-and-above IRC channels. "Searching" - and, implicitly, persistence - is so fundamental to the offering that it's (apocryphally) part of the acronymic name. Threading, bot support, and channel discovery are all useful features. Sure, all of those things _can_ be implemented on an IRC server, but they're not out-of-the-box. b) Setting up and supporting an IRC server is non-trivial for a non-technical person. Sure, it's easy to you and me - but any system that can allow customers to get access to that functionality _without_ needing a dedicated I.T. team is going to be more attractive to decision-makers. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863
- trasz 5y ago
  Sadly, Slack is also missing a whole lot of IRC functionality - starting with a proper desktop client. The logging it provides is a joke, even when you actually pay for it. Its search capabilities are nowhere near grep(1).
  - scubbo 5y ago
    > Its search capabilities are nowhere near grep(1). This is again missing the point. Yes, the statement "Slack's search isn't as powerful as grep's" is true - but many of the prospective users of Slack (and, crucially - most of those who make the decisions about corporate IT) are incapable or unwilling to use grep _anyway_. You are judging a tool by how well it suits your needs, without realizing that you are not its only target audience.
- swagtricker 5y ago
  Fair enough. And I'll admit the above statement is exactly why I'm not a business person:)
  - scubbo 5y ago
    Big same. I appreciate that they exist, so that I don't have to worry about it :)
- jalapeno365 5y ago
  I think you're both missing the point, though. And it surprises me how many people miss this point even on this incredibly smart forum. The idea doesn't matter as much as the execution. The business side matters as much or more than the technology side.
dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago
Well, I agree only in part. Their biggest feat wasn't doing IRC in a browser with emojis, it was convincing many companies they actually need it. They also managed to somehow convince the geeks saying "look, you can always use IRC gateways" only to kill them once they secured their position.
- Taylor_OD 5y ago
  I'm still shocked how many companies basically pay for slack and use it the exact same way they used email before.

Yeah. I remember looking at the Slack IPO and saying to myself, "Your F'ing kidding me. They went public for doing IRC channels in a web browser with emojis?!?!"

scubbo 5y ago

This isn't _as_ short-sighted as the famous "Dropbox comment"[1], but it's pretty close. a) Slack _clearly_ offers a lot of meaningful functionality over-and-above IRC channels. "Searching" - and, implicitly, persistence - is so fundamental to the offering that it's (apocryphally) part of the acronymic name. Threading, bot support, and channel discovery are all useful features. Sure, all of those things _can_ be implemented on an IRC server, but they're not out-of-the-box. b) Setting up and supporting an IRC server is non-trivial for a non-technical person. Sure, it's easy to you and me - but any system that can allow customers to get access to that functionality _without_ needing a dedicated I.T. team is going to be more attractive to decision-makers. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

trasz 5y ago
Sadly, Slack is also missing a whole lot of IRC functionality - starting with a proper desktop client. The logging it provides is a joke, even when you actually pay for it. Its search capabilities are nowhere near grep(1).
- scubbo 5y ago
  > Its search capabilities are nowhere near grep(1). This is again missing the point. Yes, the statement "Slack's search isn't as powerful as grep's" is true - but many of the prospective users of Slack (and, crucially - most of those who make the decisions about corporate IT) are incapable or unwilling to use grep _anyway_. You are judging a tool by how well it suits your needs, without realizing that you are not its only target audience.
swagtricker 5y ago
Fair enough. And I'll admit the above statement is exactly why I'm not a business person:)
- scubbo 5y ago
  Big same. I appreciate that they exist, so that I don't have to worry about it :)
jalapeno365 5y ago
I think you're both missing the point, though. And it surprises me how many people miss this point even on this incredibly smart forum. The idea doesn't matter as much as the execution. The business side matters as much or more than the technology side.

dvfjsdhgfv 5y ago

Well, I agree only in part. Their biggest feat wasn't doing IRC in a browser with emojis, it was convincing many companies they actually need it. They also managed to somehow convince the geeks saying "look, you can always use IRC gateways" only to kill them once they secured their position.

Taylor_OD 5y ago
I'm still shocked how many companies basically pay for slack and use it the exact same way they used email before.