March 22, 2006
Yahoooops!
Three things about the new Yahoo messenger beta that’s desperately struggling to reach parity with Skype by adding PSTN in and out services and the same wideband GIPS codec for PC-to-PC use. Two bad, one good.
Number one. Telling me my ordinary, standard Firefox-on-XP setup doesn’t meet your all-Microsoft standards doesn’t endear you to anyone:
Secondly, putting the address book in a handy accessible tab with all the contact methods visible is good. This isn’t a new feature, but it’s still good. I’m not convinced anyone has really yet got the right model for buddies, acquaintances and contacts. My Skype buddy list grows and grows, despite many of those interactions being one-off or temporary. The tool isn’t mirroring the real social relationships I have. The dissolution of a “buddy” relationship is too socially fraught. Yahoo’s model isn’t perfect either, but a tighter buddy list with a separate contact space is probably somewhat closer. The difference is minor, though.
Now for the big’un. I think Yahoo is making a terrible strategic blunder and is failing to leverage its own advantage in community. Yahoo is about the triumvirate of media, community and communications. They’re all supposed to benefit from each other.
I’m a member of several Yahoo groups. In particular, there’s one for my younger daughter’s rare medical condition. (Her business, not yours. Don’t ask.) But the new client doesn’t integrate these communities. There’s no “there” there in which we can meet. The electronic world gives me the opportunity to be in multiple places at once. One place I want to sometimes be is “hanging out” in the virtual meeting space of people concerned with this medical condition. But there’s nothing like “3 members of XYZ Group are online”, and then invite me to enter that space and negotiate the privacy and permission stuff.
Yahoo’s job is to broker great conversations. Adding radio into the IM client isn’t nearly as powerful as bringing disparate folks across the world with a common interest.
PS - When I click on “What is Yahoo! 360?” I shouldn’t get a blank web page. And when I try to log in to Yahoo! 360, I’m not supposed to get this either.
Skype is successful because (a) it works, (b) everyone has access, not just Americans. If you’re looking to build some complementary good like a Wi-Fi phone, Skype’s still the more attractive option.
Posted by Martin Geddes at 09:56 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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This is an interesting post. Unfortunately there are some misimpressions of what really is or where things should be.
For instance, the requirement for MSIE and the error message page you display are part of downloading software bundled with the BT/Yahoo package. They are not related to downloading Messenger as you imply. Messenger is part of this bundle but can be freely downloaded separately.
If you want to see if members of your group are online (something they may not want you to see) you have two options:
1) from the group, view the members directory where you will see their online status (this option can be disabled by the group moderator for privacy sake).
2) Use Y! 360° (see below).
3) Ask them if you can add them to your Messenger list or address book so you know when they're online and available to chat (which gives them the option of passing).
Your inability to access the http://360.yahoo.com page is due to your locale. You will have better luck with http://360.yahoo.co.uk/ where you can do just as we do in the U.S. Blog, track and view comments, blast, display lists and recommendations, post photos and use avatars, connect to Yahoo! Groups (see #2 above), activate a simple URL, and use with other hugely popular Yahoo! properties like Messenger, Music, Photos, and Flickr.
Your misconception is that Messenger should be Y!'s social hub. It's not. By design, Y! 360° is the best digital life manager hub to date.
Hope this helps.
Joe Beaulaurier
ps. ask your Y! group moderators to open the Chat feature if it is not already. Then when you see some fellow groupsters online you can post a 'spur of the moment' invite to the group to go to the group's chat room to mingle.
Posted by: at March 25, 2006 08:22 PM