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Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

techcrunch.com

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Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#71

Post by theamk »

bob33212 wrote: post #57
dig1 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had a meeting tonight with over 50 participants. Screen sharing. Not a single hitch or problem. In the past tried multiple times with Hangouts (dies after you get more than 4 on board), jitsi meet (not good with bad connections), Slack (good luck with video), Hipchat (video doesn't work for more than 3 participants) and Skype (connection drops). On one of my previous gigs, we ditched everything and took Mumble + goog…

In the real world you cannot have everything. Fast, cheap, reliable, scalable, secure, easy to use, os agnostic. Pick several or be disappointed about the theoretical perfect company that should exist and provide all.

Zoom is pretty much it, isn't it? (unless you require cheap == free) It did have some security issues, but they patched them eventually.

It is not resistant to government/owner monitoring (and this is a separate thing from "secure"), but even if they did add true E2E, they'd still be a proprietary software often running on proprietary OS.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#72

Post by Sophistifunk »

y-c-o-m-b wrote: post #6

Reliability goes a long way and Zoom is very reliable, especially considering the recent spike of users. I value privacy, but I think the jury is still out on this company. They need time to react to the public scolding they're enduring as of late. Hopefully things change for the better and they take security more seriously after this. EDIT: A word

This isn't new, though. They've been steadily pushing different malware strategies (with bugs) for months and months.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#74

Post by overgard »

Maybe I'm weird, but I find video conferencing really jarring -- id rather just have the audio. The thing to me is that since the camera is offset from the screen, you never make eye contact with the person you're talking to, you both look like you're looking at something else when you're looking at each other. That, and seeing a reflection of every face I make on screen makes me really self conscious. "Do I always look that bored?" It's so easy to get stuck in your own head watching yourself talk. It just feels like its in a jarring uncanny valley. Id rather just use the phone.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#76

Post by goodcjw2 »

goalieca wrote: post #45
tony101 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Meet seems to work pretty well if you have G Suite: https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/

Meet is garbage. Video drops a lot and you can’t even tile anything on their apps.

As a Googler who has no other options other than Meet, I have to sadly agree with this statement.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#77

Post by thsowers »

goalieca wrote: post #45
tony101 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Meet seems to work pretty well if you have G Suite: https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/

Meet is garbage. Video drops a lot and you can’t even tile anything on their apps.

I use meet for multiple hours a day, haven't ever had issues with the video dropping, but the tiling thing really does bother me for any meetings that aren't 1:1s. It's crazy when I am in a meeting with 50+ people and can only see the faces of a few. I don't know why they can't fix this.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#78

Post by harry8 »

harry8 wrote: post #54
tetrisgm wrote: post #9

I've seen about 10 different articles against Zoom during the past 3 days. I really don't enjoy using Zoom, but the volume and frequency of criticism is odd. Has anyone figured out where it's coming from?

Your other comment describing this as a hit piece is dead. So this is second attempt to discredit those making a solid argument with evidence. Again you take zero issue with all the points raised and just try to add noise and muddy things. So, why? Anything you'd like to disclose? dang ?

Nondisclosure of interests is a persistent problem here. We can bury our heads or ask.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#79

Post by rootusrootus »

haecceity wrote: post #53

I don't think the average user cares so much about security and privacy as hacker news readers.

Even on HN, plenty of people have differing priorities, and it can vary depending on the context. For me, my work meetings and family meetings aren't sensitive, so encryption isn't a big deal. For my family in particular, the fact that even grandma can click a single link and be looking at her entire family in a matter of seconds is a huge win. We tried WebEx. We tried Teams. Then I suggested we try Zoom, and it was an instant hit. Would I like for Zoom to address the issues? You bet. Will I give up the audio quality and brady bunch-style screen for the whole family to gather around? Not a chance!

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#80

Post by zwily »

overgard wrote: post #74

Maybe I'm weird, but I find video conferencing really jarring -- id rather just have the audio. The thing to me is that since the camera is offset from the screen, you never make eye contact with the person you're talking to, you both look like you're looking at something else when you're looking at each other. That, and seeing a reflection of every face I make on screen makes me really self conscious. "Do I always l…

iOS used to correct for that “looking below the camera” thing in software. It worked pretty well but creeped people out, so they stopped it.
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