Posts Tagged
IM
Collaboration Software is nothing new. As early as the 1990s big companies were developing cool programs that enabled people to work remotely, together. They were reserved for the larger corporations. Now web apps such as Basecamp have revolutionised the scene enabling any group such as college students working on assignments or AppStorm writers brainstorming for ideas to work together; no matter where they are in the world.
While this is all well and good there are limitations. A company called Jaconda realised that web development teams were often ignored when it came to collaboration software. What there was on offer didn’t amount to much. So they released their own app to allow motley crews of developers to code happily together. Upon my first glance it appeared to be nothing more than a glorified IM system. But when I looked closer I found a cool API that would surely impress team leaders.
Multiplicity. A huge problem when it comes to communication. We all have friends who use either multiple IM accounts or multiple IM services. This problem was tackled by desktop apps that can handle multiple protocols and accounts. But then again, we use multiple computers and mobile devices for work and personal use. Installing these desktop IM apps on a work computer may not be possible thanks to the IT team.
Unlike these desktop IM apps, online instant messengers do not require plugins or installers. Hence these web based IM apps have found a huge user base and some services are handling millions of users.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the most popular online IM apps.
