how did zoom become so popular?

adolf hamster · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:02

this is seriously confusing me.

it doesn't seem to offer anything that it's already mainstream competitors (skype, teams, discord etc) didn't already offer, and yet for some reason people have become obsessed with it.

as far as i can see it's a broken mess with a frankly annoying ui.

does anyone know why people seem to like it?

SideWinder · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:03

I thought it was the 'main big one' for ages so everyone just turns to it by default.

Teams is rubbish though so rather use Zoom.

Scam · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:10

In my experience..

Skype = generally sucks all round
Teams = fine for corporate environment/internal meetings
Zoom = is easy for everyone else, it just works

Not to mention Skype, Teams and even Google Meet need accounts. Zoom doesn't (as an attendee) so that was a massive reason.

peterwalkley · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:11

Beginning of last year when everyone suddenly started working from home, teams and skype couldn't cut it for big meetings (I'm talking 500 people in our case) whereas zoom just worked. We ran with zoom as the default for a good 9 months, but then switched to teams as Microsoft caught up with capabilities and its free, unlike zoom for the sizes we needed.

Fluffybob · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:14

Mostly because Teams is so ****

adolf hamster · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:16

Scam said:
In my experience..

Skype = generally sucks all round
Teams = fine for corporate environment/internal meetings
Zoom = is easy for everyone else, it just works

for me it's:
skype- clunky/dated, but works
teams- better if imperfect, but least it works
zoom- no better than teams, but crashes/lags out constantly

Scam said:
Not to mention Skype, Teams and even Google Meet need accounts. Zoom doesn't (as an attendee) so that was a massive reason.

can't really see that logic, even assuming people somehow don't have microsoft/google accounts, it's not like it's difficult to sign up.

Terminal_Boy · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:18

As already posted, Zoom became wildly popular with friends, families and small teams for the following reasons:

Easy to use across all platforms
Free for 40 minutes
No account needed
Very, very reliable, even over fairly poor internet links

Pawnless Endgame · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:21

I've been using Skype video with family and friends since 2007. Skype has now kinda been replaced by WhatsApp video as that's the easiest to use across devices imo.

For corporate, Skype became Lync and is now Teams and that's better for the work place with the collaboration feature.

Zoom came out of nowhere and is good for online gambling, so I use Zoom if I'm doing that with a friend (poker, slots etc).

adolf hamster · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:22

Terminal_Boy said:
Very, very reliable, even over fairly poor internet links

maybe it's just me then, but i can all but guarantee it'll crash within an hour of launching.

bayo000 · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:26

Hardly use Zoom, used it maybe 5 times tops.

Use Skype for family and friends calls
Teams for work
During the first lock down we used Cisco's Webex for weekly quizzes with friends, think we switch to Zoom for one or two when Webex started charging but quickly switched to Skype

dowie · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:30

Pandemic + loads of people needing a simple solution that is easy to use and just works...

I mean you can simply send a link and even Karen from accounting who can still barely use excel even after 10 years can just click on it and join a meeting.

Basher · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:30

Zoom just gets talked about a lot as they made an effort to make it available to all in Lockdown. Doesn't mean they're hugely successful in Enterprise, though.

WebEx is better, but didn't do too well selling/marketing itself.

jsmoke · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:31

And what happened to MSN messenger or AOL messenger, they both disappeared overnight. Then WhatsApp and Skype appeared now you don't hear so much about them, then it was Snapchat and now telegram and whatever else.

It's clever marketing, knowing that the majority will just move with the masses and use the FOMO factor.

Housey · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:32

adolf hamster said:
maybe it's just me then, but i can all but guarantee it'll crash within an hour of launching.

I have used it daily for 2 plus years now (as well as Google/Teams/WebEx/Slack) and I can't think of a single time Zoom has crashed. I find it friendly to use and it just works (OSX and Windows).

Terminal_Boy · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:33

adolf hamster said:
maybe it's just me then, but i can all but guarantee it'll crash within an hour of launching.

Only ever used it for sub 40 minute family chats where it was rock solid.

Lopéz · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:36

In my line of work we are exposed to all of these systems, regularly.

We use Teams as a company, but Zoom is - by some margin - the most reliable, best quality, least resource and bandwidth intensive video conferencing software I have used.

Scam · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:46

adolf hamster said:
can't really see that logic, even assuming people somehow don't have microsoft/google accounts, it's not like it's difficult to sign up.

No one's saying it's difficult, but even I won't sign up for something unless I absolutely have to. It's just yet another email/password combo to forget. E.g. if an online store has a guest checkout I'm all over that. I'd never sign up unless I have to.

Basher said:
WebEx is better, but didn't do too well selling/marketing itself.

We used to have webex at work and it was awful! It's like going back to the nineties isn't it?

We weren't allowed to use Zoom in our corporate environment (although silly marketing people did, obviously). I just keep thinking how lucky our IT teams were that they rolled out Teams at the end of 2019. Maybe they knew something we didn't!

Scrutinize · 20 Oct 2021 at 12:54

Lopéz said:
In my line of work we are exposed to all of these systems, regularly.

We use Teams as a company, but Zoom is - by some margin - the most reliable, best quality, least resource and bandwidth intensive video conferencing software I have used.

This really.

TheVoice · 20 Oct 2021 at 13:24

jsmoke said:
And what happened to MSN messenger or AOL messenger, they both disappeared overnight. Then WhatsApp and Skype appeared now you don't hear so much about them, then it was Snapchat and now telegram and whatever else.

MSN Messenger totally failed to keep up with the popularity of mobile messaging, and Facebook et al swooped in. There were crappy third-party MSN apps for Android etc but I don't think there was ever an official one.

visibleman · 20 Oct 2021 at 13:26

Scam said:
Not to mention Skype, Teams and even Google Meet need accounts.

Being slightly pedantic, I believe most of those allows guests, certainly Teams does, so only the host has to have an account.

Understandable why Zoom has become popular due it's ease of use but there is a lot of shadiness attached to Zoom, some of the practices it has deployed (bypassing admin rights under MacOS etc) and other security vulnerabilities (E2E etc). It's why we don't deploy it for business use.