It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the time of the SUV, the flip-phone, and cargo pants. Google was just a search engine and Apple made PCs. Heck, there was even a website called MySpace. In seeking to relive the glory days, of, oh, 2003, AOL recently relaunched AIM, the instant messenger client that started, well, instant messaging, and in a package that resembles Facebook competitor Path – open both sites to check out the browser icon similarity.
It’ll be an uphill climb. In a generation that almost exclusively uses GMail, and by extension, GChat – which, by the way, can also adopt your AIM account – AOL will also have to convince users that their new messaging service can one-up BBM, Twitter, Apple’s iOS-cum-OS “Messages,” Skype and Facebook chat. “AIM on an iPad” does have a ring to it, but will it resonate?
*Update: Professor David Galpert sent me this link, which shows just how dire the situation is at AOL.
Silicon Spatula 