Every article I've seen so far on this subject says that MSN, Yahoo!, etc. all are willing to interoperate but AOL won't. So why do they all sit around waiting for AOL? They should do it and just leave AOL able but unwilling to join them.
Yes, right now AOL has the most users. So what? I teach beginners how to signup up for IM's all the time. They pick based on how many others they can contact. If there was a choice between being able to contact everyone who is not on AIM or just AIM, they'll go with the interoperability and the choice of what interface/company they like best.
I use Trillian, but if I was on AIM only and one by one my buddies began to defect to an interoperable client, I wouldn't sit around on AIM hoping AOL would suddenly see the light.
It might be rough going at first but AIM would eventually become just for companies who only want to communicate with their own workers or they will see the advantage to joining the crowd.
I've never liked AOL's business practices and gimmicks to try to rule the internet. As long as everyone just sits back and waits for AOL to do something, AOL has the power in the situation.
Customers can be the real people in power here. In fact, they already are. AIM currently has more subscribers; that speaks loud enough for AOL. If you want interoperability, dump AIM and write letters to your favorite IM company and tell them what you want.
Slashdot Mirror
that one was always my favorite one too
Every article I've seen so far on this subject says that MSN, Yahoo!, etc. all are willing to interoperate but AOL won't. So why do they all sit around waiting for AOL? They should do it and just leave AOL able but unwilling to join them.
Yes, right now AOL has the most users. So what? I teach beginners how to signup up for IM's all the time. They pick based on how many others they can contact. If there was a choice between being able to contact everyone who is not on AIM or just AIM, they'll go with the interoperability and the choice of what interface/company they like best.
I use Trillian, but if I was on AIM only and one by one my buddies began to defect to an interoperable client, I wouldn't sit around on AIM hoping AOL would suddenly see the light.
It might be rough going at first but AIM would eventually become just for companies who only want to communicate with their own workers or they will see the advantage to joining the crowd.
I've never liked AOL's business practices and gimmicks to try to rule the internet. As long as everyone just sits back and waits for AOL to do something, AOL has the power in the situation.
Customers can be the real people in power here. In fact, they already are. AIM currently has more subscribers; that speaks loud enough for AOL. If you want interoperability, dump AIM and write letters to your favorite IM company and tell them what you want.