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TIME.com ON AOL For more on the Inauguration, including a historical photo essay as well as additional behind-the-scenes photographs and audio commentary on Clinton's last days in office, go to time.com
Fortunately somebody is working on it. A handful of companies, notably twin goliaths Microsoft and Yahoo, have formed a coalition called IMUnified to attack the problem. Unfortunately AOL, which between ICQ and AIM controls 80% of the market, isn't part of the gang. That's what has the FCC's regulatory knickers in a knot...
Earlier this month, instant messaging (or IM for short) made headlines when it became the final sticking point in the biggest merger in history, the deal that joined AOL and Time Warner (proud owner of this magazine) in corporate matrimony. The Federal Communications Commission wouldn't approve the union without special conditions regarding AOL's IM policy. Why the fuss? After all, some nonsophisticates argue, IM is just a kid's toy--e-mail for the Dawson's Creek crowd...
This is all assuming the person on the other end is using the same IM program you are--and therein lies the rub. AOL, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo all have IM programs, but most don't talk to one another; if I use AOL Instant Messenger, and you use MSN Messenger, for example, we're out of luck. Imagine if two people using different phone companies couldn't call each other. That's the current state of instant messaging...
...come AOL won't play with the other kids? AOL's spokespeople claim that AOL is committed to interoperability (as the IM geeks call it). Its AIM software is available free on the Net to any user who wants it, and AOL has readily licensed the technology to competitors. But the company argues that opening up its system could expose users to hackers and spam and other nastiness. IMUnified says that's bunk, that the technical questions are child's play ("My grandmother could implement interoperability"), and that AOL should get with the program...