Came for comments about Lync, was not disappointed.
Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
71–80 of 285 posts
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#72I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Slack was incorporated outside of the US where Microsoft could use some of its non domiciled cash on the acquisition? http://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-admits-keeping-92-billion-o... Also interesting to think that Slack could be worth so much. Look at ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger, etc. It seems as though slack like tools get eclipsed every 5-10 years as a new ge…
> ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger ... slack like tools... I think people too often overlook Slack's integrations. Yes, Slack is "just" chat or "just" a glorified IRC. Or is it? I don't know how long it would take me to integrate my Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams into IRC to the point where I could set it and forget it. I think for business users at least, using this type of setup _effectively_ could mak…
Does a tool display clickable hyperlinks? That's all the integration I (and I suspect many other people) care about.
I can't even imagine what it might mean for " Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams" to be integrated into Slack, or why I might want them to be.
Want to share a gist with somebody? Just send a link to the gist to the chat channel, and people can click it.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
In an enterprise environment, Slack is sometimes considered bad because all of the company data is not under the company's control. I seriously doubt that the company I work for ever would go all in on Slack, precisely for that reason.
A lot of enterprise claim to run their own services, but in reality, they outsource to third party to host them, for example, centurylink for active directory or some vendor for managed exchange servers. Heck, a lot of companies bought 365 and Box. People use Skype for communication, passwords are being thrown all over emails and chats. Code are on GitHub. While there is auditing in place, the reality is, a lot of en…
Yep, I'm well aware of all of that because I sit on our "Cloud Technology Advisory Committee," which feels like a scene from Brazil. However, many here work with sensitive PHI and various types of classified data, so the concerns are bound to contractual agreements with clients and our ability to win work is contingent upon standing up to audits that verify our claims regarding data ownership, security, etc. I wouldn't argue that makes it more secure, but it's the reality of the business.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#74Here's a list of Microsoft's announced acquisitions: https://www.microsoft.com/investor/Stock/AcquisitonHistory/A... (warning, asked for an MS Login first) From their results from previous acquisitions, I don't understand what they think they would get by purchasing Slack (unless it is a purely defensive move against Slack developing an in-house document collaboration service, Office 365/Google Docs style).
> against Slack developing an in-house document collaboration service, Office 365/Google Docs style One can only dream …
Bringing document collaboration side-by-side with team communication could have a positive effect on productivity, and Slack could roll it into the per user pricing they already have.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why Skype is so crappy. Most Microsoft software is at the very least average, with several products being industry standards. Why is Skype so different?
I've always assumed that the acquisition failed horribly. The apps are still the same code as pre-acquisition, and I'll bet a lot of the original developers left pretty sharpish. It's quite possible that the original codebase is an absolute train wreck, it's not as if it was ever an amazing app, after all. I wonder if MS acquired Skype today (i.e. "The New Microsoft") whether they'd have been more successful.
Skype has a ton of legacy (just look at this list: http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-computer/) - supporting that can't be easy.
WhatsApp will probably face similar problems in 5-10 years, if they want to maintain compatibility with the myriad of clients they have in the wild.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger ... slack like tools... I think people too often overlook Slack's integrations. Yes, Slack is "just" chat or "just" a glorified IRC. Or is it? I don't know how long it would take me to integrate my Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams into IRC to the point where I could set it and forget it. I think for business users at least, using this type of setup _effectively_ could mak…
Does a tool display clickable hyperlinks? That's all the integration I (and I suspect many other people) care about. I can't even imagine what it might mean for " Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams" to be integrated into Slack, or why I might want them to be. Want to share a gist with somebody? Just send a link to the gist to the chat channel, and people can click it.
I can't speak for the rest, but I personally use the GitHub integration to be notified in chat when builds have failed, pull requests are submitted and commented on, etc. Otherwise I end up having to keep GitHub open in a tab and refresh every minute.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#77Switched from Skype to Discord for gaming. No regrets.
Lots of support for Discord here on HN.
I saw some posts mentioning that a relatively large project had switched to it for support (Reactiflux http://www.reactiflux.com/ ).
Edit:googled the project
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#78Does anyone else find it bizarre that what is effectively a web-based IRC is (possibly) worth $8B?
It's far more than web-based IRC and has a substantial userbase, a significant number of whom are paying for the service. Given the failures MS has had with communication tools in the past, I'm not surprised at all they mulled an $8B acquisition of Slack
> It's far more than web-based IRC
How exactly?
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#79I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Slack was incorporated outside of the US where Microsoft could use some of its non domiciled cash on the acquisition? http://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-admits-keeping-92-billion-o... Also interesting to think that Slack could be worth so much. Look at ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger, etc. It seems as though slack like tools get eclipsed every 5-10 years as a new ge…
Frankly Slack's success is the utter failure of every alternative on the UX side. MSN messenger was perhaps wrong-footed by the shift to multi-device, but none of the other tools have such an excuse. It's not a generational thing, it's an incredible level of, there's no other word, incompetence on the part of the makers of major messaging software (Skype in particular).
Yeah I agree, I think people routinely underestimate the level of quality and amount of time you have to put into a consumer product.
A good example is Yahoo Mail... this product is used by so many people, and was supposedly overhauled a few years ago, yet it is mediocre in so many ways.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger ... slack like tools... I think people too often overlook Slack's integrations. Yes, Slack is "just" chat or "just" a glorified IRC. Or is it? I don't know how long it would take me to integrate my Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams into IRC to the point where I could set it and forget it. I think for business users at least, using this type of setup _effectively_ could mak…
Does a tool display clickable hyperlinks? That's all the integration I (and I suspect many other people) care about. I can't even imagine what it might mean for " Stripe, Github, Trello, and Zendesk streams" to be integrated into Slack, or why I might want them to be. Want to share a gist with somebody? Just send a link to the gist to the chat channel, and people can click it.
I prefer having everything in one place possible. Clicking a link means a new tab, and if you have multiple systems, that's a new tab for each system and its links. Gets out of hand quickly.