Gchat was the messenger of the future, but Google didn't get it.

^{Ah, the good old days}

Lately everyone has been talking about Slack . A chat application that focuses primarily on office use and productivity is simple, well designed, easy to use and powerful . Slack is also the company that everyone went crazy for in 2015 (the company of the year according to Inc.). Whether you like their program or not, it's time to recognize one thing: Slack is exactly Gchat.

Just ten years ago, people did not always understand that they can use Gchat like we use Slack today. It was assumed that this is an instant messenger for lazy idle talk with friends, and not for business conversations with colleagues. But in Gmail there was an archive of chats, full-text search worked on them, there were group chats and transfer of media files was allowed. This is Slack, and Google (in a simplified form) had it back in 2005, although the company did not understand this.

Of course, Google did not invent instant messages. Denying the importance of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) or ICQ is like denying the formative experience of a whole generation (do not forget about MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger users). But Google put the main goal of Gchat, maximum compatibility with all platforms, they implemented integration with AIM , for example, at the end of 2007. As Gmail grew in popularity and as Gchat supported more and more third-party IM services, this product became an increasingly attractive choice.
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The first sign that Google did not like Gchat as much as its users loved it - in the very name of this service. We can talk about Gchat all day, but Google never recognized that word . Despite its prevalence in oral speech, Google stubbornly opposed the name “Gchat”, without explaining the reasons. The company steadfastly kept its line, calling the Google Talk application released in 2005, and the Gmail-integrated service (2006) called Google Chat or just Chat.

To cope with the situation, I had to use creative linguistics. The Mashable edition described the service with the “official name of Google Talk, and informally known as Gchat”. The newspaper The Telegraph tried this passage: “Google Talk, colloquially known as Google Chat or Gchat”. Such confusion! And the loyal users of Gchat had the impression that the love for Gchat, both for the name and the community that was formed around, was like something illegal.

In 2011, Google begins experimenting with the Hangouts communication service on Google+, and by 2013 Google wanted to make Hangouts new to Gchat. He had an advanced video call feature, sharing location information and support for animated GIFs. Overall, the Hangout was a product of natural evolution. But many Gchat users resented this transition, they criticized the new product and clung to the classic Gchat interface. “Well, I just made an“ upgrade ”on Hangouts and now the chat column in my Gmail has become addicted,” wrote one of the Gchat users on the Google tech support forum in 2013, when Google increased the pressure on users to switch to Hangouts .

Two years later, John Brownlee published a passionate speech in defense of classic Gchat in the Fast Company column:

There is a reason why professionals like Gchat. In the world of online messengers, similar to hallucinations in delirium, Gchat proudly kept the text interface. Putting the main priority functionality, it coexisted with Gmail, not trying to come to the fore ... When you click on someone's name, you can send him a text message, and later start a video conference, that's all ... He proudly, even pointedly did not allow any frills, but still had some beautiful not striking strokes. "

The release of the new version to replace the old one with a different name seemed to confirm the suspicion that Google didn’t really like Gchat the way its users loved it. And that was also the moment when Google’s vision of the future development of instant messengers lost its meaning. In its official corporate history, Google writes that the Hangouts, released in May 2013, should become "Google’s unified communications system, replacing Google Talk, Google+ Hangouts and Messenger." Still, Google Messenger still exists in parallel with the Hangouts. And even now there are the last people who have not changed the old Gchat.

But hey, that's not all.

Last week, Google announced Allo messenger and Duo video chat application. They implemented personalization using machine learning. A week earlier, the company also released a small-group collaboration application called Spaces, which combines sharing multimedia content and viewing web pages within a program with a chat.

This is a variety of ways to communicate. A Google employee told me in a comment: “With Allo and Duo, we focus on starting everything from scratch, making purely mobile applications with specific crisp functions. On the other hand, Hangouts is a powerful multi-platform application for users who need features for group work chat and productivity. ” It seems that Google is adding new brands whenever it releases new products, even if their functionality is duplicated.

From the point of view of the company, it makes sense to start with a clean slate and then show an amazing and innovative development. “We did not want to burden programmers with solutions from previous products,” said Erik Kay, technical director of communications software at Google. But from the user's point of view, these name changes are unnecessary and disrespectful of their favorite products that could be improved instead of being destroyed ( RIP Google Reader ).

In reflections on Digital Trends about the oversupply of communication programs from Google, Andy Boxall (Andy Boxall) writes that Google “spewed three new messengers out of us ... Which ones should we use? If you are not sure, then do not look at Google. Judging by her intricate approach to communication services, she herself does not know. ” The same can be said about the situation with Gchat: the company did not realize then that it possesses something valuable. In 2005 and 2006, the company was in the hands of what would eventually become the next big trend. Gchat was simple, elegant and, most importantly, focused. All this is now gone.

And it's not just about Slack, because Google was five or six years ahead of WhatsApp, GroupMe and Facebook Messenger, offering a simple, functional chat with many options. A company could benefit greatly if it realized what value it has. In fact, it is still quite often possible to hear how people call any communication service from Google - Gchat . This is an incredibly powerful brand. Especially considering that it never existed.