Re: Re: Messenger services

["M. Dodge Mumford" <dodge () nfr net>]

On Thu, 21 Dec 2000, sim wrote:

> Are there anymore messenger like applications or services?

Once I realized that both Napster and and Diablo II had their own instant
messaging services builtin, I realized just that there's a really fuzzy
line between instant messengers and other applications. The problem with
instant messagers is that their scope is too limited--they don't have a
builtin audience. The ones that you've heard of will probably continue to
exist (and add "features", yum). But as new applications develop they will
probably include instant messaging, too.

Wouldn't it be handy, for example, to be able to communicate quickly with
the author of a MS Word document (maybe your boss or coworker) to ask him
or her questions about what a particular sentence means? Or pop up a
window in your spreadsheet to talk to your accountant to ask if the beer
you consumed in the hot tub was expensible? The list goes on and on and on
and on, and will likely never stop.

In fact, I'm not sure it should. These are all ways of making your work
experience more productive, and your gaming experience more fun. It's just
that a lot of these sorts of things aren't being used to their full
capabilites. It's just kindof a shame that nobody can agree on what these
services should look like so we could effectively monitor them and protect
ourselves from their shortcomings.

In the meantime, [standard rant about using a default deny policy].

BTW, you didn't mention IRC, the only IM protocol I know with a real live
RFC.



Dodge



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