[REBOL] Re: I've had it with email.
From: chalz:earthlink at: 29-Jul-2002 8:43
> I think there's lessons to be learnt in the take up of instant
> messenger clients. I have no idea how one combats the momentum of
> email but at least the instant messenger clients managed to get
> installed and find wide use.
Getting a shy off topic, I have to disagree there. Instant message clients
are NOT immune, and can be worse. Take ICQ for instance. Have you counted the
number of tools out there designed to spoof ICQ? It's not a small number. And
there's very certainly a good load of ICQ spam roaming around. Plus, AIM,
Yahoo, MSN... you name it. They are not immune. And just because AIM etc give
the sender a user name, doesn't mean the user will exist by the time you
receive the message - or ever did.
Another problem with IM clients is like phone - you *have* to deal with the
person *now*, or ignore them. Email, you can get to it when you have time. If
you take 5 minutes to respond to an IM, the other party tends to get antsy, and
start bugging you.
Instant messaging leaves a lot to be desired, and I do not believe should be
used as an example of "how things should be done." Besides, it's not like we
can have an IM mailing list like this, although an online help channel of
volunteers wouldn't be bad ;)
--Charles
