With Vids, Google thinks it has the next big productivity tool for work
Google’s new Workspace app “Vids” aims to make collaborative, AI-assisted video creation a core productivity tool, positioning itself against products like Loom and Microsoft’s Clipchamp. Commenters question whether video is an efficient medium for internal communication, arguing that many meetings, slide decks, and now auto-generated videos simply shift work onto viewers and are harder to search or reference than text. There is also deep skepticism about Google’s habit of killing products and about tech giants copying and bundling smaller companies’ ideas in ways that may stifle competition.
Overall reception of Google Vids
- Many see it as “Loom + light editor + AI,” aimed at async presentations and internal comms.
- Several think it will be popular in enterprises that already use Workspace, especially if bundled.
- Others find the core idea “horrifying”: more low‑value video replacing concise text or live interaction.
Meetings, async communication, and recordings
- Some predict: people will skip meetings (“I’ll watch the video later”), then never watch, then reschedule live meetings anyway.
- A few explicitly ban recordings for interactive sessions, saying recordings kill attendance, questions, and feedback.
- Others note many meetings are already one‑way broadcasts; auto‑transcription/summarization (Teams, Copilot) makes async consumption more efficient.
Video vs text/slides
- Strong faction: video is poor for technical/reference info—slow, hard to skim/search, noisy to consume, prone to rambling Looms.
- Counterpoint: video is excellent for demos, frontend feature walkthroughs, UI bugs, physical tasks (e.g., car repair), and some education.
- Concern that short, AI‑generated “talking head over bullets” will bloat content without adding information.
- Some argue slides should be skeletal aids for live talks, not primary information stores.
Tooling, effort, and generative AI
- Making good video is time‑consuming (scripting, takes, editing); pros make it look easier than it is.
- Others feel casual videos can be faster than over‑polished slide decks for internal audiences.
- There’s frustration that current gen‑AI for slides/presentations over‑automates content and under‑supports precise user control.
Google’s strategy and trust issues
- Persistent skepticism: expectation that Vids will be rebranded, then killed within a few years; jokes about future shutdown headlines.
- Some note a pattern: new greenfield apps rather than extending Slides, driven by promotion incentives and later cancellation.
- A few suggest Google should commit to multi‑year support windows to rebuild credibility.
Market and competition concerns
- Seen as a direct or partial response to Loom, Clipchamp, Microsoft Stream, Zoom recordings.
- Worry that big platforms can cheaply copy smaller startups, bundle features into suites, and starve independents of their markets.