talk n type

So Google is hastening the inevitable collapse of the Berlin Wall between real-time communication (chat) and slow-time communication (email). They have announced plans to integrate Gtalk IM functionality into Gmail, according to Laurie Flynn of the New York Times.

This is getting a lot of buzz at tech.memeorandom, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. Yes, because of the upcoming integration of AIM with GTalk, this does suggest a seismic shift in the IM fortunes of Google, whose Gtalk has been more or less ho-hum. Yes, this could blow a hole in the business model of companies like Meebo. But the real push here is the end of slow-time, and the rise of real-time.

In general, I would rather speak with my trusted colleagues in real-time, rather than via email. I use email as a communication device with those that I either know less well or for communication that is less urgent. And of course, as a fall back when someone is not available for real-time.

So, in essense, I would rather have a solution where the two forms of communication are tightly integrated, so that I can select a buddy, and if they are available start chatting, and if they are not, post them an offline message (read “email”).

This is one of the key elements of the Nerdvana theme I have been beating on for a few years. My buddylist is the center of my universe, and everything of importance should be associated with it. All sorts of attributes, including RSS feeds, calendar events, presence, and contact info, should be presented to me in a more sophisticated buddy list. This is what the Google Desktop is aspiring to be (although not available for Mac), and it looks like they are steaming along in that direction, but now building pieces into the Gmail experience, where they have the most users.

I wonder if they will provide me the view that I want? Where instead of a stream of email, ordered chronologically, I can display my buddylist, with the various emails and chats hanging off the individuals displayed there? We will have to see what is rolled out, but I have hopes.