Another chat medium... Google talk

Today the SMH got on the bandwagon with an article about Google talk. You can download the program at http://www.google.com/talk/

I'm thinking... great another chat program. At the moment i have Miranda which combines ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo and AOL. Just cos otherwise i'd have 3 different programs open. It's just easier to have one contact list.

However, while online chat is real-time, it's prob a lil less personal (even though there are emoticons etc) and easier to misunderstand somebody. Incorporating voice chat is a good idea but it's just so done... i mean MSN does have it... but also you have ur specialist programs like Skype that are pretty good too.

I think this is just another excuse for another program and for Google to jump on the instant messaging bandwagon. The hype i think is the thing that will make it popular or a flop.