Google Talk...all talk?

I downloaded Google Talk the first day it came out and was quite surprised with what i found. When you have been using msn/yahoo for ages and now skype for a year, you are literally taken aback with a ripped-down version of a IM/VoIP software.

Lets see what it lets you do:
1. Like msn (earlier) and yahoo the users need to have an email (gmail) to chat. But while gmail is on invite it lets you invite the person you wanna chat with. So that takes care of that.
2. Voice is pretty good. I chatted on it with people in US/Canada and it was as good or better than skype at times.
3. No advertisements or tabs unlike msn and yahoo
4. Customised messages for online/busy like yahoo (msn does not have it unless you install messenger plus)

And it does not have:
1. Emoticons
2. No conferencing facilities unlike skype (now 4 people at one go)
3. No search facility (i use that seldom though)
4. No call-in facility from normal phones (unlike Skype-In)
5. Font changes
6. Webcam integration
7. File transfer facility
and more...

so basically why...
1. Is there such a hype about this software?
2. Is there a genuine threat to msn/yahoo/skype and other IM/VoIP players?

1. Have you wondered why you sometimes stick to a brand even though sometimes you are not sure what you are buying? Its a question of brand trust. I first bought a iRiver mp3-cd player and was very impressed with it. So when the ipod hit the market i decided to wait and then buy the iRiver version (which is far better as far as functionality is concerned...might not be as cool to look at a la ipod). Google has become a noun and a verb in the last few years like Xerox. You don't say 'search', you say 'do a google on it' like we still say 'could i get a xerox done please?'. So customers stay with a brand which has been hugely popular across the masses, ages, genders. Everyone is thinking that like google, google talk is the next thing. We would have to wait and watch.

2. I believe this is good for us consumers. On the day google talk was launched, msn came out with its 7.5 version, skype said it would make its software easily available and skype-in methods more viable. All of this to take some hype away from google talk. For google it couldn't have it better. If they are the Japanese, they would love to tear down the IMs and VoIP applications and do a FMEA (Failure Mode & Effect Analysis) - and in course of time give us the best of both worlds (the msns and the skypes). If you look at the list above (the first few things that struck me) of what it does not have, do you truly believe that they can't incorporate the same??? I would be a total jackass if i thought so. So there must be a method to this madness of minimalism. We would again have to wait and watch. Btw both gmail and google talk are Betas...lets see what's the first non-beta version they come out with.

If you would like to read more on google talk:
Wired Review
Techwhack Review
ZDNet Review
BBC
Some tips (some of them are quite lame though)

And yes, if would like to use google talk and don't have gmail, leave me your email on the comment and I'll send you an invite.