[JDEV] Thoughts on AOL

[Aaron McBride]

Here's something that's been bugging me for a while.  Why can't IM be like 
email?
Why can't I log into Yahoo and send a message to someone on AIM (without 
having to get an AIM account)?
Why can't I setup a server at my office that checks which of my "buddies" 
are online, and let me know?

Is it really about resources?  If so, why doesn't AOL block email from the 
outside world?
Is it really about "protecting their users from spam"?  If so, why don't 
they do something about all of the spam on ICQ?

Seriously... I'm baffled.  Maybe it all comes down to ad revenue.  If AOL, 
or MS, or Yahoo, or whoever own the standard, then they can ensure that 
they have their millions people looking at the ads that they sell.  Can we 
somehow create a situation where the protocol is standardized, but there is 
still a way for the people interested in making money to provide a client 
that is better enough that people will use it with ads?  I'm thinking of 
the Eudora model with email.

I'll shut-up now.  :)

-Aaron


>It's just that they have this crappy double standard about how people are 
>allowed to use the resources that they already offer up to the non-paying 
>public, and it seems that a lot of people here (myself included) are 
>wondering if we should respect *that* at all.
>
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