Telepocalypse

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 9:56 AM

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