AOL Instant Messenger: How AIM Invented the Status Update and Then Died

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

AOL Instant Messenger, released in 1997, was never designed as a consumer hit. It grew out of an internal messaging feature written in the PL/1 language and running on a fault-tolerant Stratus mainframe, built only to move text reliably. Teenagers and college students took it over. By 2006 AIM held 52 percent of the North American instant messaging market, and its away message had turned the family computer into a broadcast tower for song lyrics, inside jokes, and party plans.

This episode covers the rise, the fights, and the fall. Starting around 1999, Microsoft reverse engineered AOL's closed OSCAR protocol so MSN Messenger users could reach AIM users, and the two companies traded overnight lockouts and patches. AOL then piled on features: chatbots like SmarterChild, AIM Pages, internet phone calls. The software grew bloated, its privacy design let strangers watch users unseen, and text messaging and smartphones finished the job.

Anyone could add a screen name to a buddy list without approval, then see when that person was online and read their away messages without their knowledge.
Links beginning with the aim prefix could open a chat window or change an away message straight from a web page, a deep hook that hackers later exploited.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's 2014 secure messaging scorecard gave AIM one point out of seven, for encrypting data in transit.
By June 2011 AIM's share of installed apps had fallen to 0.73 percent. AOL laid off most of the development staff in March 2012.
The servers were shut down on December 15th, 2017. Fans have since revived the service on a nonprofit server called AIM Phoenix.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(16184)

The Art of Adult Friendship: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore how our understanding of friendship changes as we grow old...

9 Nov 18min

Summer Explained: The Science, History, and Traditions of the Warmest Season

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore summer, the season most closely associated with sunshine, ...

7 Nov 18min

Sir Patrick Stewart: From Shakespeare to Star Trek, the Life and Legacy of a Legend

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaim...

7 Nov 49min

Larry David: The Genius of Social Awkwardness, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and career of Larry David, the comedian, writer, ...

6 Nov 38min

Why Australian Shepherds Aren't From Australia

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the history of the Australian Shepherd, an intelligent, en...

5 Nov 45min

Labrador Retriever: From Newfoundland Fishing Dogs to Modern-Day Heroes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable history of the Labrador Retriever, one of t...

4 Nov 53min

Discovering Ireland: A Journey Through History, Culture, and the Wild Atlantic Way

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore Ireland through the philosophy of slow travel: go slower, ...

3 Nov 48min

Willie Hutch: An Overnight I'll Be There Lyric and The Mack's Soundtrack

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!William McKinley Hutchins was born in Los Angeles in December 1944 and raised in Dallas, where h...

2 Nov 21min