I don't know why people think Slack is a remote working tool. The reason slack is popular, is it was better than hipchat, which was better than gchat/hangouts/lync, which was better than IRC. It solves a specific problem, but when you try to shoehorn it in as your solution to remote-everything, of course it fails.
Their marketing team is just playing the hand they've been dealt. That doesn't make it a "remote working tool;" it's the same tool as before--it's OK for remote work, but it works fine when you're colocated, too.
So if something is marketed as a means to reach a certain goal, it suddenly is the way to reach that goal?
In other words, if I start wearing Nike shoes, will I become an athlete? If I start drinking Heineken, will I become an amazing socialite and travel the world from party to party? If I use Axe body-spray, will gorgeous women fall over themselves to be with me?
This seems weirdly combative and aggressive. The original question was "I don't know why people think Slack is a remote working tool" so I'd say a legitimate answer would be "Well they say so themselves in their marketing copy, maybe that's why people think they are?"
I read brown9-2's comment as saying that Slack is a good remote tool because it is marketed that way. I am not critical of people thinking it is a good tool, but the premise that what is said in marketing messages is true per definition.
Now, when you say that you read their comment that way... did you truly read it that way? Do you actually believe that brown9-2's position is that everything that is said in marketing messages is true?
Slack positioning itself as a remote working tool makes it fair to discuss if it really is a remote working tool or a remote working company, which is exactly what the person I am replying to commented about.
You are right, I read the emotion of your message wrong. I thought you meant that Slack IS a good tool for remote work because they say it is. You were reacting to the question of why people think it is.
Sorry for the hostile reaction either way, neither interpretation deserved that.
