Google Meet is "free" for 60 minutes, which conveniently enough won't be enforced until September.
That's just a shady deal, especially if they end up trying to retire Hangouts chat and so normal users can no longer use free video / voice call services that they've come to rely on having for like 10+ years now.
Don't get me wrong - I love Meet on my business accounts and along with all the other Apps in G Suite, it is well worth paying for. But I also value the fact that normal ass standard Google users have been able to have access to a semi-decent video and voice conferencing platform for over a decade now. I hope that doesn't change come September.
Even for free I won't use it. I already have solutions that I (and the business I work for) have been using for several months. (Personal: Skype or Zoom; Business: MS Teams) Those solutions work. Not only do I not assume that the Google solution won't be half-assed, I also do not assume that it will remain free, nor even remain in their product line for any reasonable length of time for that matter. In fact, being "free" makes even more leery that Google will axe it down the road.
Regardless, if I (and I assume many beside myself) need a video conferencing solution, I would have found one by now and no longer need a "me, too" product.
First, Google Meet is also not e2e encrypted.
Second, Google Meet is not now free. They're rolling it out over several weeks. My account isn't activated yet. Is yours?
Google is really, really late to game here. What was Google doing for the last 2 months while Zoom capitalized on our situation?
That's just a shady deal, especially if they end up trying to retire Hangouts chat and so normal users can no longer use free video / voice call services that they've come to rely on having for like 10+ years now.
Don't get me wrong - I love Meet on my business accounts and along with all the other Apps in G Suite, it is well worth paying for. But I also value the fact that normal ass standard Google users have been able to have access to a semi-decent video and voice conferencing platform for over a decade now. I hope that doesn't change come September.