Comments on: AOL kills Instant Messenger

By: JPMiddleton

JPMiddleton — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:45:00 +0000

Can’t say i’ve ever had any issues with Skype IM, and I like that you can leave a message for when the recipient logs on again.

By: Vertigoboy1981

Vertigoboy1981 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:44:00 +0000

It’s still the best chat service available. Skype is glitchy and delays messages. Facebook chat is a joke. The only way I can use FB chat effectively is to sign on with AIM. Sad stuff…been using this thing for 13 years.

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Err… “Inventors of lol”?

Read up on your history of communication tools.

By: Ahmed

Ahmed — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:16:00 +0000

There’s nowhere to “repurpose” them…AOL is not the booming metropolis of an internet company anymore…

By: harm0ny89

harm0ny89 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:35:00 +0000

YES! OMG I STILL USE AIM MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE!

By: B.

B. — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:32:00 +0000

”America Offline” I see what you did there, you are just too clever aren’t you

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:56:00 +0000

What’s AOL?

By: Adam Moreira

Adam Moreira — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 05:30:00 +0000

It’s as though Facebook has taken away everything—I never imagined the day that the former America Online could become essentially the Huffington Post, which is what it is now.

By: Socialist_Flash

Socialist_Flash — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:54:00 +0000

I’m gonna miss the shit out of AIM.

By: Shelby Reiches

Shelby Reiches — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:25:00 +0000

Wasn’t the purchase of Thing Labs back in September 2010? That’s about a year and a half ago. A lot can happen in that time.

By: Tlt1993

Tlt1993 — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:57:00 +0000

Psh :c

I’ve been using AIM and AOL for years, I hate facebook chat
At least AIM works on my phone..

By: JPMiddleton

JPMiddleton — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:34:00 +0000

Havent’ used it for over 10 years but yes it’s a sad day.

By: JPMiddleton

JPMiddleton — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:34:00 +0000

Havent’ used it for over 10 years but yes it’s a sad day.

By: endorphinity

endorphinity — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:59:00 +0000

I’ll try to explain. I am living in Ukraine and I didn’t hear about AIM service until I’ve got a job in American-owned company 11 years ago and started using it as a daily communication tool. Before that, me and all my friends were using ICQ, which was by that time the most popular instant messaging service in Europe (or, taking it wider, outside USA).

By: Droiddest

Droiddest — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:19:00 +0000

Lmfao, so what does AOL even do now?

By: rawr n shit(tm)

rawr n shit(tm) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 02:59:00 +0000

OMG! what am I going to do with all those free CDs now?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:24:00 +0000

This comment… just made my weekend

By: Terri Smith

Terri Smith — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:23:00 +0000

You’ve got mail!

By: Rob Allegretti

Rob Allegretti — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:01:00 +0000

Isn’t AIM basically the only thing worth a damn that AOL does?

By: JohnJohnJ

JohnJohnJ — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:44:00 +0000

As an American living in America, I can’t understand why you bring nationalities into the conversation.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:53:00 +0000

AOL is also known as America Online. A big US “ISP” (it actually started out as its own walled garden that later opened up a gateway to the net itself). But basically unknown in Norway at the time. And AIM was in essence part of the AOL package. Hell, even using ICQ was something of a curiosity. Only with Microsoft bundling Messenger did Instant Messaging use spike in Norway.

By: David Gibler

David Gibler — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:44:00 +0000

As an American of German lineage living in Canada I didn’t understand what being Norwegian has to do with your choice.

By: Bob Blockus

Bob Blockus — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:28:00 +0000

America On Line messenger ground breaking roots from myself, Bob Blockus. It was centered around how humans can interact with one another far better than basic old-world email. We think logic to be sometimes thinking together tied into a web at a split second. Think about more upgrades to America On Line messenger, Thank you.

By: Richard Rss Romay

Richard Rss Romay — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:44:00 +0000

how long will the service continue to work for?

By: S1S1S2

S1S1S2 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:11:00 +0000

What about their corporate solution? Many brokers used aol /AIM corporate?

By: Mglocks

Mglocks — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Your reporting is inept. You got the story wrong. You’ve brought shame upon this blog.

By: Dr_Mom

Dr_Mom — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:15:00 +0000

AOL may be old and outdated but I still know many, many non-tech savvy friends who use it on a daily basis. Does this mean that the entire service is being shut down or just development of their IM client?

By: mikl0s

mikl0s — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 06:48:00 +0000

ICQ > AIM

By: Shanthandro

Shanthandro — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:34:00 +0000

its my first chat program. would miss it!!!

By: Erica Keough

Erica Keough — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:49:00 +0000

This sucks! I still actively use AIM all the time! It’s one of my main ways to communicate!

By: Kehonka

Kehonka — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:39:00 +0000

very sad I used it to talk to my son when he was in college.

By: weeeeeeeee

weeeeeeeee — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:53:00 +0000

They’re not shutting down the service. They’re just not coming out
with newer versions. Which is fine, they should have stopped updating
the program 6-7 years ago.

By: Billc72069

Billc72069 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:37:00 +0000

i don’t miss AOL AIM at all !
i have not used it that much and will be most happy
to delete it from my computer cuz i have Skype
and FaceTime !

By: Marc Elliott Levy

Marc Elliott Levy — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Does it make you feel good to put others down?

By: Charles Jones

Charles Jones — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:27:00 +0000

AIM will always hold a special place in a lot of our minds.. my earliest experiences on the internet, circa 1994, were using AOL and going into the chat rooms and talking to the the mystery “girl” on the other end. Then, around 1997 AIM came out and it seemed a like a really big deal to avoid even “signing” into AOL to talk to someone.

By: DaymonH

DaymonH — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:23:00 +0000

See what happens when you let Time Warner Cable’s wrinkled old fingers touch your junk? R.I.P. AOL

By: DaymonH

DaymonH — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:19:00 +0000

I’ve never used AOL myself, but what gives you a right to call someone a loser for any reason, let alone their choice of IM client. Grow up!

By: Uninterested Party

Uninterested Party — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:14:00 +0000

::sigh:: AOL just bought Thing Labs, the folks behind Brizzly, Plinky, and 5Min EXPLICITLY to work on the new AIM. Check the Thing Labs blog – they’re moving over to support and build the next versions of the official AIM product, not that anyone even uses it anymore. Still, AOL didn’t “kill” AIM. They probably fired the old staff to make room for the new team…that they just bought.

Honestly guys. Research. Does a blog good.

By: JoeDirte

JoeDirte — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:06:00 +0000

I think AIM still has a place. What I would love to see eliminated is AOL’s bloated and buggy desktop software which I think is up to like version 9.5 now and getting more bloated each time. AOL users can get everything they need, email and AIM directly through AOL’s website or via the AIM application.
Also AOL has been lining its pockets by managing to milk so many of its long term users by not making it apparent that they can switch to an AOL free service plan if they have broadband and thus many are still paying 24 bucks a month but have been connecting via broadband for years now. The paid plans are for dialup and paid telephone support only. They have no other purpose.
As a computer tech who has helped 100′s of residential consumers, I can’t tell you how many times customers of mine look at me with a shocked look when I tell them that they don’t have to pay to use AOL and they can keep their AOL email and everything else that goes with it. These customers have been paying $14 to $24 a year to AOL for the better part of a decade or so and yet have been on broadband all that time. They had no idea they didn’t need to do that. Of course I’ve switched all of them over to the free services, but I do explain to them that they will lose AOL phone support. Also I try to get them to stop using AOL Desktop and get used to using a real Internet browser like FF, Chrome or IE.

By: JohnJohnJ

JohnJohnJ — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Author, you’re a bit late reporting on this. But you use the word “kill.” If AOL has really killed it, why would they retain support personnel? Can you offer a source on that kill? Did you investigate?