Comment 13 for bug 332355

It's just as easy to load evolution/gmail at startup as it is to have an IM client tell you about your E-mails. Checkgmail is a great tool for gmail. Any other accounts you can use evolution, and have it load at startup. The reason the Empathy devs chose not to is because of the idea that the functionality is already available elsewhere.

If you wish to further your opinion on the matter, it would be better served by going to the upstream developers and discussing there. Discussing here will get nowhere.