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Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

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Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#102
post #58

I have avoided weighing in on all the talk about Zoom recently. Mostly because I'm an outsider, my company does not use Zoom. However I've used Zoom once or twice, for interviews or in one case working with a friend on a pair programming session. At my company we use teams, slack, skype and discord (yes, really). Heres the thing though; The first time I used Zoom I was actually petrified (as I usually am) that I have…

We knew how Facebook and google become great. But is this even real American company?

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#104
post #65
post #58

I have avoided weighing in on all the talk about Zoom recently. Mostly because I'm an outsider, my company does not use Zoom. However I've used Zoom once or twice, for interviews or in one case working with a friend on a pair programming session. At my company we use teams, slack, skype and discord (yes, really). Heres the thing though; The first time I used Zoom I was actually petrified (as I usually am) that I have…

I have to say that I'm a sinner, I read these articles and think, well, I don't actually care that much, but its good other people do and hopefully zoom improves what they are doing, but it's doing a good job and it's easy for everyone who needs to use it. Heck, my mums using it for virtual meetups wither her friends (all hovering in the 70s age group)

Yea, don't be hard on yourself here. This pandemic has taught me a VERY valuable lesson: you can't control or care about everything. You just can't. For your own sanity there are many times when you have to throw your hands up and say "sorry but I just don't have the time or energy to add this to my long list of wtf's". Like you said there are others out there that are dedicating most or all of their time to issues that you can't. Life is a giant distributed system. If you try to take on every issue that comes your way then you're going to burn out, blow up, expire, etc.

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#105
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…

Hangouts data point(s): I was just on a conference call a few hours ago with 90+ participants on Hangouts. We've done these numbers routinely at work and we've never had a problem with it. I dislike and don't trust videoconferencing apps that can't run in the browser, and Zoom goes the extra mile by requiring you to use their sketchy package installer. I'm really enjoying the scrutiny they're getting right now. They…

Somebody linked a browser extension that would bypass the installer prompt and let you join the meeting in your browser.

Apparently If you tell them no a couple times, they let you join in browser

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#106
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?

It's easy enough to explain as a spinoff topic of the covid crisis.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22751116

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22754135

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22754818

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is video really that important? Sure it has benefit of being a bit more cozy, but in reality phone is sufficient to discuss work. Screenshare is much more important, especially for knowledge workers.

The problem with phone calls isn't the lack of video, but the lack of a "click here to join the meeting" interface. Group meetings are much less hassle through Skype, or Teams, or Zoom, or whatever computer-based option you choose, than waiting for everyone to drag out their phones, dial the right number, type in the right meeting code.

> The problem with phone calls isn't the lack of video, but the lack of a "click here to join the meeting" interface.

If "dial this number to join the conference call" is too hard for modern professionals, what the hell is happening to our society? (I do not believe it's actually too hard for them. I think it's incredibly patronizing to suppose that dialing a phone number might be too hard for otherwise capable members of the general public.)

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#108
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's a hit job. It's a side effect of the covid crisis, which is itself an instance of the 'major ongoing story' dynamic on internet forums: black hole story attracting all mass. More here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22751116 . In fact, the wave of objections ('why is X taking over HN') is a manifestation of the same dynamic; it's just the second-order version of it. When those get repeated en…

"black hole story attracting all mass" Very well put!

[deleted]

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#109
My company went 100% remote recently for obvious reasons. Quite a few people are trying to advocate for the company buying a company wide license. The de facto standard is currently Google Hangouts Meet (my company uses G Suite so it comes included).

A lot of people whine about Hangouts Meet, but honestly I find it completely adequate (but not much more). Zoom is marginally more user friendly, but I don't think it's meaningfully better. Certainly not enough to spend $15/user/month [0] while G Suite, in its entirety is $12/user/month [1].

[0]: https://zoom.us/pricing

[1]: https://gsuite.google.com/pricing.html

Re: Maybe we shouldn’t use Zoom after all

#110
I'm not defending their recent transgressions, but Zoom works exceptionally, is intuitive, and I don't see these issues slowing them down much. I'd hope they make things right, or as right as they can, but the HN/Tech blog reaction seems disproportionate to the actual news. It's starting to feel weird.
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