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Updates to our Google Voice apps

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Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#191

Post by dragonwriter »

johansch wrote: post #61
throwthisawayt wrote: post #26

As an xoogler, this tells me that the voice team is now staffed again. It also tells me that the executive team is thinking about reducing headcount and focus on hangouts, but still are uncertain. Finally, it tells me that google still has no idea how to crack the messaging space, and has so no team internally that is taking charge but a bunch of teams with different approaches, all jockeying for executive support. G…

Why did google mess up messaging in the first place? It seemed like this space was ripe for their taking. (Basically, just replicate the gmail concept for messaging. Keep it sorta-open-enough and free enough. Seems like a no-brainer.) I mean, what was the specific root cause?

I think the specific root cause is that messaging is actually a number of different spaces with different ideal solutions, which I think Google is starting to get even though I don't think they've yet actually nailed any of the subspaces (or even necessarily correctly not identified exactly what they are.)

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#192

Post by fader »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #36
nemesisj wrote: post #17

I've been a Google Voice user for 6-7 years. It became more important to me 5 years ago when I moved to the UK and ported my mobile number to GV. It's not been very pretty. We were thrown a lifeline with the Google Hangouts app taking over for the absolutely-awful Google Voice app. One of the most frustrating things about GV is that for certain SMS providers, it fails the "is this a USA number test" or "can we SMS to…

> One of the most frustrating things about GV is that for certain SMS providers, it fails the "is this a USA number test" or "can we SMS to it" test (it's unclear which), thus making it not work with my USA bank accounts, and I can't register for Lyft, for example. > I wish they'd fix this, but what I really wish is that they'd make it a real product, make it cost a few bucks a month, and have a team working on it. I…

> Interesting. I did not read it that way. I read it more as them being a bit humble.

I definitely read it as snark rather than humble. Humble would have been something like "We're sorry we went so long without an update but we are committed to fixing this and supporting this app going forward. Thank you for your loyalty and patience." Instead, this was more like "Oh, you people are still here? Huh."

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#193

Post by Analemma_ »

tw04 wrote: post #181
throwthisawayt wrote: post #26

As an xoogler, this tells me that the voice team is now staffed again. It also tells me that the executive team is thinking about reducing headcount and focus on hangouts, but still are uncertain. Finally, it tells me that google still has no idea how to crack the messaging space, and has so no team internally that is taking charge but a bunch of teams with different approaches, all jockeying for executive support. G…

The answer to this is easy: copy imessage. If Apple had even a little bit of common sense they'd support imessage on windows and android and just charge a small fee of some sort to make money off of it. They're blackberry right now, they could own the market if they were willing to eat their own market share. As for google: I have no idea what is up with the stupidity. What people want is simple: an app that works on…

In Apple's case, I don't think a lack of common sense is the problem. With the iPhone making the bulk to Apple's revenue, this is a textbook example of a "strategy tax" [0], and the thing about strategy taxes is they're really hard to overcome even when you can see the issue staring you dead in the face. It takes very uncommon leadership to hobble your cash cow.

[0] http://scripting.com/davenet/2001/04/30/strategyTax.html

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#195

Post by fdsfsaa »

CaptSpify wrote: post #136
fdsfsaa wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The specific root cause is Google's practice of promoting based on product launches; it literally doesn't matter whether that product goes on to be successful. This practice creates a strong and perverse incentive to continually launch new products while discouraging iterative development of existing products.

Do you have knowledge or experience from within Google? or is this your own conjecture from the outside. My perspective as an outsider is that you are right, but I'm just curious if you have any special insight.

I am well qualified to comment.

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#196

Post by erikpukinskis »

ashark wrote: post #166
erikpukinskis wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn't care if you can communicate with non Apple users. They have their iMessage population hostage. Those people can never switch to Android because they'll be left out of group texts. It's vendor lock-in of the highest order. Spectacular play by Apple, really. They guarantee switching to Android is painful, you risk losing business deals and messages from friends. I doubt it's legal, but for now they are ge…

I've never had a problem with mixed Android/iOS group messages and media with iMessage. I've made no special effort to get it to work. It's seamless. Am I doing something wrong? Or right, rather? Now, back when I used Android I remember Hangouts ruining everything it touched and I had to switch back to the deprecated Messages app (which was completely fine and did not need replacing) to fix it. Maybe the problem with…

If you associate your phone number with an iMessage account, and then deactivate iMessage, Apple will just silently stop delivering group iMessages to you. You won't notice and your friends won't notice, they'll just stop coming.

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#197

Post by [deleted] »

st3v3r wrote: post #162
johansch wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never worked at Google, but... didn't Larry Page announce a full-blown program to fight that like 3-4 years ago? Work on features/depth rather than new products?

He can launch programs all he wants, but unless that trickles down to management, and the incentives are aligned to at least reward iterative development as much as launching new products, it's not going to change anything.

[deleted]

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#198

Post by erikpukinskis »

X-Istence wrote: post #158
erikpukinskis wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn't care if you can communicate with non Apple users. They have their iMessage population hostage. Those people can never switch to Android because they'll be left out of group texts. It's vendor lock-in of the highest order. Spectacular play by Apple, really. They guarantee switching to Android is painful, you risk losing business deals and messages from friends. I doubt it's legal, but for now they are ge…

If you unregister your number from iMessages, group texts switch over from iMessages to non-iMessage as soon as you send a message that has a member in it that is no longer iMessage.

That's not true. Everyone in the thread has to delete the thread and create a new one before new messages will go to an iMessage-deactivated number.

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#199

Post by saurik »

blakesterz wrote: post #167
nextos wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frankly, I can't understand how Google is so chaotic. Perhaps it's the organization, which looks more like a conglomerate than a cohesive corporation with a clear vision. They release products, only to abandon many of them without a clear reason (like Google Talk). Or they release two products that should be one instead (Android & ChromeOS, or Allo & Duo). The Google Talk fiasco got me particularly disenchanted. A be…

>> Frankly, I can't understand how Google is so chaotic. I'd love an open and honest answer from someone up high in the org chart at Google on that. Better yet, just an acknowledgement of it and how they're going to stop doing this in the future. If they were a startup with 200 employees under the age of 30 I'd understand it, but they're obviously waaaaay beyond that stage.

Hell, at this point I would settle for some closure on "what the hell did you mean by 'more wood behind fewer arrows' in 2011 when you began the process of mass project shutdown?!... that's not really how arrows work :/".

Re: Updates to our Google Voice apps

#200

Post by erikpukinskis »

kharms wrote: post #149
erikpukinskis wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn't care if you can communicate with non Apple users. They have their iMessage population hostage. Those people can never switch to Android because they'll be left out of group texts. It's vendor lock-in of the highest order. Spectacular play by Apple, really. They guarantee switching to Android is painful, you risk losing business deals and messages from friends. I doubt it's legal, but for now they are ge…

If you include a non-iOS number in a group chat it becomes an SMS group chat. Not sure what the big deal is.

That's true, but if one of the people in an existing thread deactivates iMessage it will stay as an iMessage group chat and silently fail to deliver to that person.
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