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Ask DLS: Business Week declares IM dead - what do you think?
Oh really? That's kind of interesting, because there's a lot of evidence that IM is alive and kicking.
Taking a quick look at some stats on Download.com, I notice that these apps still seem to be pretty damn popular. Pidgin has more than half a million downloads to date. Since Trillian was added to the site, it's been downloaded almost 37 million times.
The latest release of Live Messenger 14 is well over 400,000 in just two months - and these numbers don't take into account the numerous other mirrors for these (and numerous other IM) apps.
Embedded chat on websites has been around for ages. It's not a new concept, though it continues to evolve and improve. For example, there was the recent addition of voice and video to GMail.
That's great, but I still have a lot of contacts that don't use the service. Many of my family members and friends are still using the same POP server and clients they were 10 years ago. My contacts are using a number of different apps and services, and I'm not about to leave five sites open in Firefox tabs just so I can utilize embedded chat.
MacMillan also references a Facebook stat: 60% of its users have tried the site's chat toolbar. What does that mean, really? I used the bar once and didn't like it, but I assume that was probably enough to count.
Personally, I'm a Digsby user and I prefer the simplicity of accessing all my networks from one desktop app. I can't
be bothered to see which contacts are signed in to Facebook, GMail, MSN, or direct messaging me on Twitter separately.
What about you? Does the embedded messaging offered on any single site do enough to kill desktop clients?
Comments
18
Subscribe to commentsChristianNov 18th 2008 12:24PM
I use digsby too but I find them quite unstable if I run all of their feature. I don't think IM will die any soon since it can connect easily to text messages too. It's just evolving in many ways.
Nic MoonNov 18th 2008 12:46PM
I use Pidgin for Gmail, MSN, and Facebook. In my opinion it is a much better solution than leaving every one of those online messengers open. Pidgin can also tell me when I got a new email (which includes new facebook messages etc.).
For MSN, imo MSN web messenger is awful. I would probably opt for Meebo or something for that if I were going to go completely client-less.
chris josephNov 18th 2008 12:25PM
I'm guessing Doug MacMillan doesn't actually use IM in any capacity, save for the novelty of it all.
Fucking AO HellNov 18th 2008 12:33PM
easier to connect with overseas outsourcers immediately over IM for me.
Setting up miranda portable to connect to the internal jabber protocol as well as my social msn/google/yahoo/aim (yeah probably a bad security risk) is just more efficient for me.
RocketboyNov 18th 2008 1:46PM
Heck, easier to make a quick connection with someone in a different office in the same building with IM.
Martin-TNov 18th 2008 10:20PM
It isn't the lack of users, it is the drop in revenue they are seeing that is driving these companies to integrate the programs with sites.
Their objective is to put as many ads in your face as technically possible. That isn't happening in stand alone products to the same degree as it will if they get you to open a page.
rTwelveNov 18th 2008 12:42PM
When I was on Windows I used Digsby for a bit and was a huge fan of the Facebook integration. Not only was I tired of going back to the browser window to talk to someone but I also liked the news feed integration. So far I've found Digsby is the only app I can find that offers that feature.
When I switched to Mac I experimented with Adium due to its Facebook Chat support (Digsby isn't available for Mac at all); unfortunately it didn't have a newsfeed integration, and of course I have to back to the browser to look. (I want to get everything running as a app with Growl support--I used to run both Google Reader and Facebook 24/7 in Firefox and now I've solved one of those.) Of course, considering I have a MacBook, I really really wanted to use iChat instead of Adium (two words: voice chat). It is well-documented you can use Jabber servers to incoprtate other protocols into iChat such as Windows Live, but I have not found anything for Facebook Chat. Facebook themselves mentioned back in March they were planning on integrating Jabber support into Facebook Chat but as far as I've gathered that was a one-man project and there has been no news since.
I guess the point of this long-winded comment was that I still very much use desktop IM. :P
brandonNov 18th 2008 12:53PM
has anyone tried using Facebook's chat? It even barely works..
WLNov 18th 2008 1:18PM
Google is the only site I know of that has a web based client comparable to (or even better than) it's desktop client. I'm a pidgin user and so far I haven't come across any single web app that would make me give it up completely.
supernova_hqNov 21st 2008 2:01AM
Ever tried meebo?
ExtantNov 18th 2008 1:34PM
I stay signed into pidgin almost all the time. However, I'm a college student, and no one I know uses AIM anymore. Many of my friends are like me and stay signed in, but are never available to actually talk.
Facebook chat is usually a better place to get in touch with people, but I can't stand their client. It's so bare boned and it can be really spotty. If Facebook would build a better chat application, they could probably steal the younger demographic that still spend a lot of their time on AIM and the like...
AdamNov 18th 2008 3:58PM
I've been using trillian for years now, and TODAY marks the last day that I shall force myself to put up with such an unreliable, crash-prone product. I am trying a few different ones. Pidgin was at one time the top contender, however it seems to have an overarching priority to display all 25 AIM bots that it added to my buddy list versus actually showing more than 3 of at least 40 (at any one time) real people online.
JaccoNov 18th 2008 2:42PM
I still use MSN Messenger after all those years. I don´t use pidgin or something, simply because I have nothing except GMail and Windows Live Hotmail. For GMail I use a toolbar. (liveTV toolbar)
Here in Holland, IM is alive as never.
Victor Agreda, Jr.Nov 18th 2008 2:53PM
I still use Adium every day (OK, not so much on the weekends). Without it, there's no way I could do my job. In fact, I've turned off the web-based chat client in Gmail, as I tend to check email more often than opening my IM channels. The analogy would be that when my IM is up I am "in the office." When it ain't, I'm just getting stuff done -- like any workaholic.
mvpNov 18th 2008 3:49PM
To me texting was the overall killer, why hop onto a computer when you can just text on your cellphone from anywhere.
Julian BondNov 18th 2008 4:50PM
And then there's Skype.
NothingKnewNov 18th 2008 4:39PM
I use Digsby from my main system and http://www.meebo.com whenever I am out and about.
I don't care what service someone else uses...I use them all. I have several clients who use IM...some use Yahoo, some MSN, some AIM. So I just ask which service they use and gie them that IM account.
And, people on Facebook keep asking me why I am always signed in. I introduce them to Digsby and their world is suddenly brighter.
Fryed OatsNov 18th 2008 7:20PM
Definitely not true. Most of my friends rarely use things like Facebook chat, and seriously, Facebook chat would be great if it actually worked.
Although I am cutting down the number of different IM services I use, I still love my Windows Live Messenger.