Yahoo Shelves Meebo Competitor myM

Looks like Yahoo is cleaning up the house before they open the doors to new owners.

As the old adage says “better late than never”, but in Yahoo’s situation, the shareholders might think that “too little too late” is more appropriate

Keep on dusting Jerry.

So… what was Yahoo! decision? wasn’t it today the deadline?

I really liked the way Google has done it. Integrating chat within the gmail in the left navigation.

It is just that the new version of gmail has become 30 % slower than the previous version.

I wish Yahoo would do the same tooo of integrating chat to mail.

Cheers, Nag

Zimbra has everything…

@Nag,

Yahoo mail beta already has the chat client integrated to the beta mail.

What company will have the first 10MB page full of javascript? Place your bets now!

Another startlingly misleading update on Yahoo! from TechCrunch. Yahoo! has hardly “killed off their web chat ambitions”, unless you want to just, you know… entirely ignore their web-based Yahoo! Messenger service: http://webmessenger.yahoo.com/

Why is TechCrunch now publicizing the death of services that by their own admission were never launched?? Should Yahoo! make no attempts at new products if they’re not 100% certain they will bring them to market?

Yahoo! is one of the few companies making significant progress and upgrades to an existing, entrenched instant messaging product.

TechCrunch’s coverage of late, and of Yahoo! in particular, has shown an overwhelmingly careless lack of objectivity and perspective.

ObjectGraph has just released PageChat with an embeddable widget that lets users chat with other users on the same webpage. I am not sure if there are such services, but this is interesting. Note: I should mention, that I know one member there (Don’t want to be come off promoting something).

@Jay:

“TechCrunch’s coverage of late, and of Yahoo! in particular, has shown an overwhelmingly careless lack of objectivity and perspective.”

Agreed.

myM brought MySpace, Facebook and MSGer together I believe. Tried it out in the early beta and wasn’t really impressed. Another attempt to try something social by Yahoo!.

Also, can something join the deadpool even if it never lived? You can’t even find a screenshot of it…

Jay, our lack of objectivity is hardly careless. however, good point on the web messenger product that remains.

Dmitry - your philosophical question regarding whether something can enter the deadpool even if it never launched is interesting, but ultimately pointless. We control the techcrunch deadpool, so what goes into it us up to us. Start your own deadpool if you don’t like it.

Making a web-based version of a product you already have with a lackluster feature set and annoying technical limitations that bump the official client offline when you start using it is not exactly the greatest thing ever.

Would be good if Yahoo diversified them bonds, son!

11 was about 7! I’m not crazy. =D

let wait and watch the decision and picture after that

Are you saying that TechCrunch’s lack of objectivity is intentional? Because while it’s one thing to be opinionated, it’s another to be misleading. What TechCrunch covers and how it covers it is your decision… but for what reasons are you making those decisions? Are they to serve your own interests? Or are they to serve the interests of your readers?

Does it serve your readers to post a “news” item like this, with no context on how the service being canceled rates on importance within Yahoo!’s line of products… with no context on whether this cancellation is truly a notable event or merely a semi-regular occurrence within companies’ product testings… with no context on how Yahoo!’s product testing and remaining products in this area compare to the testing and existing products of competitors?

Or is it simply more convenient for you to post a limited amount of information of hard-to-measure worth while you can still be the first to post it?

Please don’t view these questions as an attack on you or TechCrunch. I am simply trying to encourage you to think about the value that you are providing to your readers. Because as one of those readers, I am giving you the feedback that I feel that value is diminishing.

Jay - I’ve said this many times. I never strive to be objective. I strive to be correct. Traditional journalism has hammered into us the idea that reporters should be objective, which really just means finding a source to say the things you really want to say yourself.

As to whether or not this was important enough to post, I and the other writers make many write/no write decisions every day. Our success is measured in readers and links. It’s a fairly straightforward process, and we do as well as we do.

Go calm yourself. This cannot be worth getting all worked up over. I appreciate the feedback, and I ask you to stay for only so long as you feel it is worth your time. If my decision to write about this means I’ve lost you as a reader, so be it.

I dont think mym is (was) meant to be a meebo competitor. It offered users integrated view of their IM and social networks along with some cool self-expression and sharing features.

@Chandra - new Y! Mail is not “beta” anymore. Unlike gmail :-).

News was interesting but Mikey’s response to feedbackers is very arrogant

I’m sorry for not adding more context to my own comments; you’re absolutely right that this entry, by itself, is not worth getting worked up over. And I agree with you that objectivity in journalism is overrated, though I don’t think that means it is altogether worthless, nor exclusive from being correct. (My own opinions, not an attempt to cast you as saying they are either.) Which is why my comments here are feedback on a trend(from my perspective) rather than a specific instance, and in the interest of encouraging quality.

Because while the success of each entry may be measured in readers and links, clearly TechCrunch has(and has had for a while now) momentum of its own that makes it a loud voice in the world of tech commentary. And the quality of _that_ success is much harder to see changes in through the daily variations of readers and links.

Sorry if I put you on the defensive, especially as I just read on CrunchNotes that you’re recovering from the flu. I do look forward to TechCrunch’s future coverage, especially when it’s the well-informed, in-depth coverage that TechCrunch is one of the few with the resources to provide.

yay! still friends.

Glad to see everybody is happy

oh remind me not to start writing a blog, I can’t handle onslaught of the devoted criticizers

Congratulations Mike, you had a productive dialog with a troll. Now if only every commenter on this site was willing to listen to reason…

I worked on the myM team. It was 100 deep and filled with scientists. We were actually building a rocket filled with flannel shirts and gun racks. We appreciate your interest in the product. Don’t worry you’ll see its influence.

Amazing, Chris Szeto literally struck out everywhere! I worked with him at Google where he tried to build a integrated IM and Mail client only to fail to impress anyone with his vision. When the project was handed to someone else to run with Chris was gently pushed out the door. He went back to Yahoo apparently to spend several more years working on the same failed project! Too bad for Meebo, they were doing so good without him.

Neely sure doesn’t sound like a troll. His reasoning was sound and well-intentioned.

Poor Yahoo
I think it not too long, myM will be work again soon.

Another failed product.

I don’t know when Yahoo will come to its senses that competing with Google will never achieve anything.

Yahoo should have taken the offer from MS.

Yahoo products are much better but there are severe glitches in strategy. It usually happens in large companies when they grow.

Need to have more focus on strategy instead of going for sale. And Yahoo will become bigger and successful YAHOO.

I love posting on Techcrunch and getting an “F*ck you bastard - if you don’t like my blog then go f*ck yourself” from Michael Arrington. I love the abuse.

“TechCrunch’s coverage of late, and of Yahoo! in particular, has shown an overwhelmingly careless lack of objectivity and perspective.”

I think everyone gets way hung up by this, blogs are not journalism nor are they objective. They’ve never been that which is why they are popular as there is no barrier to entry as compared to print journalism. Only the deluded would actually believe that or try to hold them to some high moral ground which they never will attain.

Can i post a message with name as Michael Arrington. Yes. This is stupid..

Hi Guys, Will i be the next president or Obama ? Bye, Hillary

@30

Can you post and have a green background?

Isn’t the point of a blog to be someones opinion? I mean, isn’t that the point in a nutshell?

mike’s correctness (which is pretty good) unfortunately don’t influence his opinions (which are spotty at times).

Chris Szeto is overrated. His presence at Google was short and totally unmemorable. He returned back to Yahoo! to be made a director of product management! How does one become a Dir PM, when there is no prior record of having built at least one product? MyM was supposed to be a Meebo killer - and now he is moving there? Sounds like he was unfaithful to the product he was managing…Yahoo! should have fired him a long ago.

The MSN bid has been declined….they want $40/share…

we will see

When the project was handed to someone else to run with Chris was gently pushed out the door.

myM can be neither the clone nor the competition of meebo, since meebo allows you to connect several accounts and with myM you only can use yahoo

Sad news for Yahoo.

This upcoming monday’s stock… will drop back to $18.00. They dropped off microsoft deal. Europe, Asia, American will put awake up called.

Why yahoo?

Microsoft should buy Zoho and give toys to facebook.

Hey Michael -

Not to add more irrelevant posts here, but Ina Fried over at Cnet is reporting that Yahoo is preparing to reject the MS proposal.

http://www.news.com/8301-13860.....g=nefd.top

Any way you can verify the story?

-jro

Thousand Name Michael Arrington on web.

Techcrunch one… That’s not his real name. His name isn’t Mike. He stole it from black guy!

Oops, WSJ has the story. Never mind. ;-/

No offensive. My friend said it correct…. Techcrunch sucks.

No wonder. They didn’t become first to report “Yahoo rejects microsoft” deal. You guys Slower than Professional one. AP, CNET, Retures, Forbes, etc…

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....&tsp=1

My friend hates Techcrunch. Some people hate techcrunch.

Joining Techcrunch is like going to high school gym and getting last one to be pick. A High school bully who wants to punch techcrunch guys.

Mike is ugly…
Erick is nerd….
Duncan is bold…

Don’t you see… No matter how good they write. We are totally victim here.

I want to leave Techcrunch soo bad… They lose many Techcrunch journalist(s). I want to be like them. I want techcrunch to ban me.

Techcrunch gives techcrunch users bad image.
Where can we join Jennifer Rice, Nick Gonzalez, Techcruncher leavers?

I want to leave Techcrunch cancer & stepping techcrunch fire.

Dudes relax. If you don’t like TC then just go. TC’s brought their fair share of good articles too. I find them informative.

What’s up with all the caveman grammar in these comments?

“Me no like TechCrunch. TechCrunch bad. Me no read TechCrunch but somehow post many comment. Blog is suck compared on objective professional journalist. Michael Arrington big mean ugly face man.”

szeto is responsible for 1/2 the features in yahoo messenger and they’ve been very successful. He may not have been successful at google, probably because he has a vision and google hasn’t a clue what to do with a single vision, it just doesn’t match their shotgun approach to product development.

I just logged in myM and it’s still pretty alive and working… Who’s your source??? Not going to send you a screenshot though

Keep it up.

Buckler Browser
http://www.jhatak.com/buckler/.....rSetup.zip