AOL kills Instant Messenger - AIM

The first chat client I ever used was on AOL during the dialup landrush.  It was actually quite fun since if you knew your friends AOL name you could chat with them whenever they were online.  Of course the downside was using up your minutes waiting for them to come online or waiting for an email response.

It would seem the historic AIM client is finally getting the axe and will no longer be on their active development plan.  There is no word as to how long it will be before the network is shut down or what will happen to their other IM properties such as ICQ.

Likely the very first non-email application you ever used to speak with your friends and relatives is about to be shut down for good, AOL Instant Messanger, aka AIM, has been all but slashed entirely from the AOL family. This application’s 40 employees in charge of development as well as everything outside of basic maintenance has been let go entirely. While support staff for the ecosystem will remain, no future upgrades to the software will exist from this point on.

I remember using AIM almost exclusively after ICQ lost its luster.  Both of which were later replaced entirely by MSN Messenger which is my chat client of choice.  Facebook and Google chat are difficult to ignore but I do my best to ignore that they exist. .

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