AOL's taking wrong direction on IM
ZDNet | at | by Mike
Enter AOL with its wispy yet effective AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), spoon-fed to legions of indentured novice subscribers. AOL had the logical notion that it could control the category by snapping up the free-spirited scrappers at Mirabilis (the creator of ICQ), eventually consolidating the two largest instant messaging camps into an unbeatable controlling force.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and others unsuccessfully tried to interoperate with AIM. Several products and companies were hurt in the process, including Tribal Voice, Peoplelink, IChat Messenger, and even Yahoo, though its well-designed instant messaging product today enjoys a loyal user base. AOL has since kept the ICQ world separate from AIM. I still can't figure out why they do this. Perhaps it's out of fear that ICQ's Birkenstock-shod crowd would bolt at the mere whiff of commercialization.