In the Beginning, There Was…Google Talk (2005-2010)
Wayyyyy back in the day, before all the confusion and the back and forth, there was Google Talk, which Google launched as its first standalone messaging service back in 2005. Talk was primarily an instant messenger, but it also allowed for voice calls. Before long, users of Google’s services began to refer to it “Google Chat,” or simply “GChat,” and thus the OG GChat was born. Talk would continue for several years before other Google products overtook and replaced it. Little did users know when they started using the client that they were at the beginning of a very long, janky road.
