Long-running AOL Instant Messenger shuts down for good
As promised, Verizon's Oath on Friday shut down AOL Instant Messenger, once as omnipresent on the internet as services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are today.
The closing was announced in early October, without any plans for a replacement or transition. In fact AOL had already removed third-party support in March, cutting off many access points.
AIM first launched for Windows in 1997 and soon became commonplace, helping to codify many aspects of online messaging and how people speak online, including terms like "a/s/l" and "lol." The service eventually migrated to other platforms and various third-party apps, among them Apple's, making it a useful means for Mac and Windows users to talk to each other.
The service's decline can likely be traced to that of AOL itself, as well as the proliferation of smartphones and other online chat alternatives. Chat is now built into Web services such as Gmail and Facebook, and users of Apple and Google devices have access to their own integrated options. Some apps -- like Slack or Apple's Messages -- even have their own mini-apps extending features.
Apple only pulled AIM support from the macOS Messages app when it released High Sierra in September, presumably because removing it was a low priority. By the beginning of 2017, the number of active AIM users had already dwindled to a fraction of its peak.
The closing was announced in early October, without any plans for a replacement or transition. In fact AOL had already removed third-party support in March, cutting off many access points.
AIM first launched for Windows in 1997 and soon became commonplace, helping to codify many aspects of online messaging and how people speak online, including terms like "a/s/l" and "lol." The service eventually migrated to other platforms and various third-party apps, among them Apple's, making it a useful means for Mac and Windows users to talk to each other.
Goodbye, AIM. pic.twitter.com/XhEQARR6ih
-- Mark (@tole_cover)
The service's decline can likely be traced to that of AOL itself, as well as the proliferation of smartphones and other online chat alternatives. Chat is now built into Web services such as Gmail and Facebook, and users of Apple and Google devices have access to their own integrated options. Some apps -- like Slack or Apple's Messages -- even have their own mini-apps extending features.
Apple only pulled AIM support from the macOS Messages app when it released High Sierra in September, presumably because removing it was a low priority. By the beginning of 2017, the number of active AIM users had already dwindled to a fraction of its peak.
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Didn’t quite work out what way. And even then many thought the merger was a terrible mistake. C’est la vie.
I haven't used it in a while, but I did meet a lot of people on there, especially in some of the Mac chatrooms. It was good times. Its a shame things like this aren't more popular. People are too caught up in Twitter and FaceBook now days.
I can't help but wonder if two decades of chat logs still exist on a server down in a basement somewhere.
I remember not knowing the difference between AOL, the internet and a web browser. Netscape took me all night to download over a dialup modem and would get disconnected because I had call waiting enabled on my line. I also remember that after the first month my father had a $400 phone bill—not the $3/hour for AOL's service—from the 25¢ phone call connection charge since I choose a number that was the correct area code but far enough away that the phone company charged a connection fee. Oops.
Fairly, I a bit surprised someone didn't buy AIM from AOL. There is certainly a market.
Soli said: macxpress said: racoleman29 said: How cares? Not me...move on already. How cares? Just because you didn't use it, doesn't mean others didn't.
I haven't used it in a while, but I did meet a lot of people on there, especially in some of the Mac chatrooms. It was good times. Its a shame things like this aren't more popular. People are too caught up in Twitter and FaceBook now days. You're going back to the original AOL with the chatrooms, right? I met people there. Back then you could change your chat username as you wished, so long as it wasn't the same as another user. I noticed that their font for a lower-case 'L' and upper-case 'i' looked the same so, well, you can imagine various things you can do with that.
I remember not knowing the difference between AOL, the internet and a web browser. Netscape took me all night to download over a dialup modem and would get disconnected because I had call waiting enabled on my line. I also remember that after the first month my father had a $400 phone bill—not the $3/hour for AOL's service—from the 25¢ phone call connection charge since I choose a number that was the correct area code but far enough away that the phone company charged a connection fee. Oops. Yes the chatrooms. Inside iChat (as it was call in Mac OS X) you could I think click on File and Join Chatroom. I rarely ever use the AOL/AIM client for Mac...almost always the one built into Mac OS X. I met a lot of people on there and used to chat with folks a lot. I never really met anyone, but it was fun to chat with people interested in the same things you were (Apple stuff). I think if you had an AOL subscription you could take control/ownership of the room and kick people if I remember correctly. It was one of the perks of having an AOL subscription.
I also remember the days of very slow downloads on dialup (I used a local ISP), and yes my mom always had call waiting so it would constantly disconnect my internet whenever someone called. I think there was something you could dial first, like *80 or something and then the number for the dialup modem and it would disable call waiting. Something like that. LOL on the $400 phone bill!!! I bet your ass was red that day.
And why do you think there’s a market for a product that dropped to near zero usage in a sector that’s been completely taken over by multiple other players?
so confused.
There are plenty of alternatives like Skype or Google Talk. Look at the Adium client, it supports pretty much all the remaining chat services there are.
But I hear ya on the delusional. Lots of people like that in the world. The claim is "I paid for something, and now, through no fault of my own, it doesn't work because someone decided they couldn't make more money off me." That has a grain of truth in it. A grain.
Google Talk might work. But just to shut my family member up, I'm taking him a refurbished iMac that supports messages. It is completely worth it to stop the bitching.