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Lot's of hype (IMO) around Slack, but lot's of money thrown at them so I kept thinking that I'm missing something! Just being skeptical as usual. The other day

Lot's of hype (IMO) around Slack, but lot's of money thrown at them so I kept thinking that I'm missing something! Just being skeptical as usual. The other day an invitation arrives to use Slack. Great! Let's see it, this killer feature or killer combination of features. What have these smart people come up with that hasn't been done countless times in the same space to make them so successful? It's literally nothing. I can't believe that's the product. Anyway, on top of a completely underwhelming experience comes this news. I can't see why a company would use them, to be honest. But then I haven't built a billion dollar company, so not many people will be asking me for an opinion.

tracker1 12y ago
You could do something similar with an IRC server and bots with webhooks... Just the same, they did do this, and offer a web based interface that people are more comfortable with (no need for an irc client), and does more than IRC clients do. IT's not that anyone else couldn't do this, it's that they've done it relatively well.
- chralieboy 12y ago
  Absolutely. It's just so much better than any IRC client. People looked at the iPhone and said "but all of this technology already existed!" That isn't the point. It had never been put together in a user-friendly way. Slack hasn't invented anything new, but the entire product is a delight to use.
programmarchy 12y ago
I think a key differentiation with Slack is their design, and that they provide clients for both mobile, web and desktop. I can't think of another product that has done this well.
aidos 12y ago
I would say that their ux is actually really good. I'd go so far as to say they have one of the best on boarding experiences I've ever seen. But that's just my opinion.
jbob2000 12y ago
It fills a necessary gap on large and remote teams. Email is too cumbersome, verbal communication isn't always practical or possible, nothing does group chats very well.
- gravity13 12y ago
  And it's not hipchat (or bought by Atlassian). Let's not forget that.
  - archinal 12y ago
    Can I ask why that would be a problem? You can actually host HipChat yourself (behind your own firewall), which seems like a great asset against this kind of breach.
johannh 12y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus
- scintill76 12y ago
  Neat story, but I don't see the analogy. OP says he/she doesn't see any innovation, not "this innovation is obvious". At least tell us an egg or two that Slack cleverly stands on end.
  - scintill76 12y ago
    Now it occurs to me I may have been making a distinction (about the nature of innovation) where there arguably isn't one. Still, I think it's fair to ask exactly what Slack is doing right. If there is a real innovation, someone should be able to tell us (there've been some good responses); otherwise it's just lucky network effects or a fad.
joshdance 12y ago
If you use Slack for a week you can't go back. I would switch back to an IRC client for a few team members who would not switch and was filled with rage every time I had to use the old client. :)
ozmbie 12y ago
It's the same criticism people had for Dropbox or the first iPhone: there's nothing new. The key is that it's very well packaged with a focus on UX (especially on mobile) and it requires extremely little setup effort.

tracker1 12y ago

You could do something similar with an IRC server and bots with webhooks... Just the same, they did do this, and offer a web based interface that people are more comfortable with (no need for an irc client), and does more than IRC clients do. IT's not that anyone else couldn't do this, it's that they've done it relatively well.

chralieboy 12y ago
Absolutely. It's just so much better than any IRC client. People looked at the iPhone and said "but all of this technology already existed!" That isn't the point. It had never been put together in a user-friendly way. Slack hasn't invented anything new, but the entire product is a delight to use.

programmarchy 12y ago

I think a key differentiation with Slack is their design, and that they provide clients for both mobile, web and desktop. I can't think of another product that has done this well.

aidos 12y ago

I would say that their ux is actually really good. I'd go so far as to say they have one of the best on boarding experiences I've ever seen. But that's just my opinion.

jbob2000 12y ago

It fills a necessary gap on large and remote teams. Email is too cumbersome, verbal communication isn't always practical or possible, nothing does group chats very well.

gravity13 12y ago
And it's not hipchat (or bought by Atlassian). Let's not forget that.
- archinal 12y ago
  Can I ask why that would be a problem? You can actually host HipChat yourself (behind your own firewall), which seems like a great asset against this kind of breach.

johannh 12y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus

scintill76 12y ago
Neat story, but I don't see the analogy. OP says he/she doesn't see any innovation, not "this innovation is obvious". At least tell us an egg or two that Slack cleverly stands on end.
- scintill76 12y ago
  Now it occurs to me I may have been making a distinction (about the nature of innovation) where there arguably isn't one. Still, I think it's fair to ask exactly what Slack is doing right. If there is a real innovation, someone should be able to tell us (there've been some good responses); otherwise it's just lucky network effects or a fad.

joshdance 12y ago

If you use Slack for a week you can't go back. I would switch back to an IRC client for a few team members who would not switch and was filled with rage every time I had to use the old client. :)

ozmbie 12y ago

It's the same criticism people had for Dropbox or the first iPhone: there's nothing new. The key is that it's very well packaged with a focus on UX (especially on mobile) and it requires extremely little setup effort.