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Financial Companies Ask IM Companies To Work Together

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the so-many-to-choose-from dept.

sammy.lost-angel.com writes "From this CNET article: "Two weeks ago, six top financial institutions met privately with AOL Time Warner, Microsoft, IBM and other leading corporate instant messaging providers and urged them to build communications networks that interoperate." The article even talks about Jabber."

2 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. im by sstory · · Score: 4, Interesting

    wouldn't it be great if there was also an API? then there could be display clients on your machine, and you could interact with your online buddies as if, say, you were at a bar, e.g. Neal Stephenson's Metaverse. How cool is that.

  2. Re:MS has already made attempts at playing nice by phillymjs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    MS does not 'play nice,' they only give the appearance of doing so to distract you while easing a hand into the pocket in which your wallet resides. :-)

    In an alternate universe, this is going on:

    1) MSN Messenger (MSNM) interoperates with AIM.
    2) MSNM is welded into XP.
    3) MS says, "Hey, Windows users! Why bother to download AIM when you can just use MSNM, which is already in XP and lets you send IMs to your AIM-using friends?"
    4) Lazy users, content to just use what's already there, abandon using AIM in droves because hey, they don't have to download MSNM.
    5) MSNM becomes the dominant IM app.
    6) AIM usage drops. AIM ad revenues sink. AIM development budget and staff is cut. AIM starts lagging behind MSNM, feature-wise. AIM becomes IM also-ran.
    7) MSNM gradually adopts a new protocol that is DMCA-protectable to lock out 3rd-party clients.
    8) After the new protocol is in place, one day MSNM users can suddenly no longer IM people using AIM. Microsoft PR spews forth some mumbo-jumbo about 'IM technology heading off in a different direction' as an explanation.
    9) A subsequent Windows version or service pack renders AIM inoperable. AIM, long un-updated, finally has a stake driven through its heart.
    10) Time to start charging for use of MSNM.

    ~Philly