In somewhat related news: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/05/20/2315216/google-drops-xmpp-support (tech.slashdot.org)

This depresses me a bit. Two parts at the loss of the adoption of open standards, one part at Google killing something I've used in the past, and one part making something that worked well work worse. My IM chat logs have been disabled since the 15th.

A project I once worked on (but was eventually discarded) was having Gmail chat clients be able to reach network personnel to ask questions or to report issues. It worked incredibly well inside the office, and given the sometimes unwieldy nature of email (and lack of any "instant" delivery mechanism), it would have been pretty damn convenient.

However, Google's chat feature will now join MSN Messenger, ICQ, Skype, and Apple iMessage in the pantheon of proprietary, closed communication mediums.