[JDEV] Good jabber client needed (was: Response to Jer's Article)

[David Waite]

Todd Bradley wrote:

> It's insane!  Alan Cooper would be spin-
> ning in his grave (if he were dead).
>

Probably if he saw it, he would keel over dead ("the horror! the horror!")

>
> However, your statement that "Ok, Jabber
> is also an IM service, but it's more
> and people should know that it's not
> ICQ" I disagree.  The end user who just
> wants a nice IM program couldn't care
> less if the underlying protocol is used
> for alien spacecraft landing approach
> systems.  They just want a way to have
> better online conversations ("conver-
> sations" in the big Cluetrain sense of
> the word).
>
> Todd.
> ps.  On the other hand, the poor UI
> of ICQ doesn't seem to have hindered
> its mass adoption, does it?  Same with
> Napster.  So maybe we're all over-
> stating the value of interface.
>

People can dislike it, but the facts are:
1. all their friend use it
2. it does what they need to
3. it doesn't crash often (unless you are using visual studio or running
AIM)

I think in some cases bad UI design (like skins for an application,
similarity to a physical device, etc) are things that look 'nifty' to an
end user, and therefore are interpreted as 'selling points'. Witness
quicktime 4.

-David Waite