The world we live in is a cause of worry. No, I am not talking about inequality yet, but the increasing culture of beta. Making promises and delivering none. No, I am not yet speaking of politicians either. We are in a world where quad-core processor running DOS still has a better chance of getting recommended for a 5 yr old over a beautiful app running on a 2 yr old single core tablet. A product would launch, create hype and leave behind hacks to get it optimally working a few months later.
So how many of you remember the Whatsapp / iMessenger attempt by Google?
Puzzled? I asked the same question on Twitter today and a lot of my friends were too. I would have been equally stunned. But then, I happened to look at the Google Plus app on my phone and realised that it had a feature that we once thought would counter BBM, iMessage & Whatsapp. Whatever happened to ‘Huddle’, now known as Google Plus Messenger! Nobody uses it, nobody remembers it. All of a sudden it starts to feel like another Orkut. But then, Google has had its challenges with Plus. The growth isn’t fast and it is still rated even below Myspace.
But thats not the only reason for Google+ Messenger doing badly. The functionality is still half baked and it is only obvious that people see Gtalk as a better alternative. Makes us wonder why Huddle came into existence and not Google Talk taking that spot. Certainly Google is finding it difficult to maintain its fast growing mobile strategy aligned with its web & social initiatives.
Annkur P Agarwal is a contributing editor with OnlyGizmos and currently is on a mission to deliver best prices on Price Baba!
