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AOL Opening Up AIM Community to Third Parties
DaffyD writes "Refocusing its vision for AOL Instant Messenger, America Online is endeavoring to revitalize the service by opening up its community and presence to third parties. In addition to partners such as CareerBuilder, AOL is seeking to enlist independent developers to build extended AIM services and hopes to offer a plug-in architecture by the end of the year. ICQ recently added such functionality through its open XML-based Xtras feature. Maybe AOL is feeling the heat from alternatives such as Gaim and Adium."
Next up is presence integration with CareerBuilder's online recruiting Web site. Job seekers can now register their AIM Screen Name with their resume to provide prospective employers with a real-time connection. A user's online status will be indicated by the Running Man icon.
Whatever you do, just make sure you change your screen name once you got the job, your new boss may be checking out your running man while you're supposed to be working.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
And not let spyware type stuff get added to it. Lets hope their "addon" framework is a bit better than IE's "addon" framework.
I don't really think it'll save them....they need to bring something new to the table, and all they're doing here is bringing more of what everyone else has already brought.
Too little too late, IMHO.
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Dont forget they IM type services require servers to function..
AOL is brining that to the table.. Without those servers, clients will be all dressed up with nowhere to go..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
"America Online is endeavoring to revitalize the service by opening up its community and presence to third parties."
You want to revitalize the service? Don't install a bunch of extra crap (like "get AOL Broadband NOW!" icons) on my computer when I grab your messenger. Ad-generated revenue is acceptable in a "free" service, but keep it in the buddy list window, please, instead of popping up a bunch of other windows. Don't make me go buy DeadAIM or whatever just to use your messenger without the kind of problems that make me think of spyware and adware.
That would go a long way to "revitalizing."
Free Sony PSPs from Gratis
How about releasing a version of the AIM client that is actually more enjoyable to use than the previous one, instead of more annoying?!
Weirdly enough, when people install an instant messenger client on their computers, their first thought doesn't tend to be "Oh boy, I hope this thing gives me a stock ticker and a dozen popup advertisement windows!"
News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters? Like hell.
I'd be more concerned about someone else hopping on your computer when ProspectiveEmployer91241 sends a message to you...
Nothing in the article says they're opening up to alternative AIM clients. They are allowing companies to "partner" with them, probably involving large licensing fees, to add AIM "presence" (on/offline information) into their products and produce approved plugins for the advertising-riddled official client. That doesn't help GAIM or Adium or Jabber or any other open-source project. It probably doesn't help Trillian either.
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
In fact, that's part of the problem ... they are 3 different standards now :
* SIMPLE (RFC3428, based on SIP)
* XMPP (RFC3920, based on jabber work)
* WirelessVillage (from the OpenMobileAlliance)
Fun, eh, there are as many open standards as proprietary networks.
#include "coucou.h"
AIM is only a non-propreitary system when they have released a fully documented server to server protocol which any foreign server can use to allow its users to communicate with AOL users, and does not require any special prior arrangement for the connection to be made or interface to be used, and does not restrict the protocol from being implemented and used without restriction in open source software.
The key to an IM system being open I believe is a completely documented fully functional server to server interface which allows any foreign IM system with its own user namespace, run by anyone to interface with it and to communicate with its users. It works like this, lets you have seperate systems at servicea.com, and serviceb.com, each service has its own user namespace, meaning each manages its own database of usernames and username registration, so each server can have a user named, for instance, joeuser. joeuser@servicea.com would send an IM to joeuser@serviceb.com, and servicea.com would open a server to server connection to serviceb.com and the message would be sent between the services. Unlike IRC, the connection is made without prior arrangement, any server can connect to any other server when the user tries to send a message between the two.
More like the merger completed right at the time the bubble burst, and Time Warner was really pissed off that the 'money' they'd been bought with was suddenly worthless. Couple that with AOL's haughty attitude in trying to unify the technology of the company, and you get a blind hatred of the AOL unit by the rest of TW. That hatred, more than anything else, is what's sabotaged AOL from becoming anything better in the past five years.
I mean, c'mon. AOL can't even get the rest of TWX to put any syndicated content other than People and a snippet or two of CNN in it's bowels, when the whole point of merging was to do just that. Time Warner hasn't given it any of the cable access promised, no real content except movie trailers, no access to it's music holdings, and no respect in it's press. I think they WANT it to die rather than realize they were as gullible as everyone else back in 1999.
Hopefully this'll help turn them around. I mean, yeah, it's AOL. Not very exciting of a tech company. But they've done a lot of open source work (yes, seriously. Mozilla, TCL Aim, AOLServer) and they're one of the most powerful litigants against spam and for online privacy. They've also been a good stepping stone for millions of people before heading out to the 'real' internet. Having them around has probably done more good than harm to the geek community.