The transition to GChat

For the last few weeks or so, I have been using Gchat in office instead of the usual Gtalk. This all began when there were whispered murmurs in Office, that our Instant Messenger conversations were being monitored. This can easily be done by a Network Administrator with tools like IMBoss and IMspector; that's why I didn’t dismiss them as baseless rumors.

I really don’t have much to hide, but I very much value my privacy. Hence to keep my conversations private, I turned over to using GChat, the Chat Widget in Gmail. This uses an encrypted channel when passing information in-between your computer and the GMail Servers, if you have the HTTPS option selected.

At times I have been rather annoyed at the difference when compared to GTalk and at other times, I have been surprised at how easily I have adjusted to the change.

Many people have preferred GChat for many years now. The most attractive feature for many people is the ability to ‘appear offline’ and then chat with people. Somehow this is not important enough for me. I accept that I am an Internet Addict, and am not ashamed to admit it. I have no problems being seen online, since I am online so much. In addition there is no one that I would like to hide my online presence from. I am quite open that way. If there is someone I don’t want to chat with - like a man - I tell them I’m busy, or ignore them.

Now this might come off as rather rude, and quite a few friends have been offended by this behavior of mine. I apologize, but they too have to understand my situation a little bit. When they usually ping me, it’s usually evening or night. They have come home, had dinner and are now chilling out and relaxing. I on the other hand, am working at this time. The evening hours of nine to eleven, are often the most productive part of my working day. And it’s not as if I’m deceiving them. I have put my status as Busy. What did they think the Red circle was for?

In some ways, I think that Instant Messenger conversations are tricky business. You never know what kind of mood or situation the other person is, nor do you often have much to say. Everyone is busy multitasking, so you never have anyone’s undivided attention. You can have only shallow conversations and useless chit chat. This is why I prefer emails. They are very effective when you have something to say, or something to ask. I know that this kind of behavior is rather rare, but I love it nonetheless. They are also better when you work like me: with an intense focus for a 15 odd minutes and then Chill out for a couple of minutes. This way you can reply to them appropriately whenever you get some time out. And since emails are so rarely used for these kinds of purposes, I get so excited, whenever someone actually uses them in this way.

Another reason why I am not so enamored by the ‘Appear Offline’ feature is something that is sort of contrary to the above points. I have often had these magical conversations with people, when I least expected them. I know that these people would not have left me an email and would only have had these wonderful conversations with me after I got them talking. This would not have happened if I ‘appeared offline’ and due to this, they wouldn’t have thought of pinging me.

So after I was forced to decide to use GChat, I decided to make the best of it. Like an obsessive compulsive geek, I arranged my Inbox. I got the GChat window to the right, and switched-off people’s status messages. I minimized the font as much as possible and made sure everything was perfect.


I had earlier decided to try this as an experiment for just a week, and see if I could adjust to it. And not only did I adjust to it, I took to it, like a fish takes to water. After using this setup for almost three weeks, I do have some observations.

Firstly I do miss GTalk. I miss the feature of File transfer that it offers. I miss the way that you can just alt-tab your way through different conversations. Secondly the most annoying thing about GChat, is that when you are IM’ing with someone, and they send you a message: Their window keeps on flashing. It isn’t enough that you have read it. You actually have to go and click on it with your mouse. For me, Gmail was a Keyboard paradise, where I could do everything without touching a mouse, and now I constantly have to use a mouse.

Another thing is that my chatting has decreased. This is because even though Gmail will always be open in one of the tabs in Firefox, it usually doesn’t have focus. I always have Firefox as well as Internet Explorer Eight open. Besides that I will usually have a window of ArcMap open, and atleast two different IDE’s open. If this wasn’t enough, sometimes I am not even working on the same machine. I might be working on a virtual machine or might be working on some other Machine through Remote Desktop/VNC.

This has been doing wonders for my productivity, but I am not sure how much it is doing for my social life and friendships. If you ping me on GChat, there is a big chance I might actually not read it, even though I am sitting right in front of the desktop. Compared to this, the Gtalk windows were prominent and sometimes grabbing attention, even though I was working in Visual Studio in full screen mode. And often at the end of the day, I want to pick up from the same spot the next day. Hence I do not disturb my setup; I just close Firefox so that next day it opens up with the same tabs.

So if I have missed any of your messages, I am truly sorry. Don’t take it the wrong way. It wasn’t personal.

Will in continue to use Gchat? The answer is twofold. In office I will, but at home I can’t live without Gtalk.