AIM really was the gold standard for instant notifications and ambient signaling. Away messages were fantastic and if you stayed logged in, non-experts (normals) could disclose and see availability and time idle.

The pseudonymous UIDs, AOL's chat rooms, contact management, image sharing, private messaging—this list of innovations introduced to mainstream users made AIM a giant success.

Alas, AOL Instant Messenger cannot compete in the age of smartphones.

One of my friends with whom I stayed touch first through AIM said

  > Somehow I really thought there would be an AIM
  > emoji <emoji of man running: UTF-8 \xf0\x9f\x8f\x83\xf0\x9f\x8f\xbb>

I replied

  > If any service should have an emoji standard, it’s AIM.

EDIT: formatting, spelling, sense, fix quote, punctuation, proper noun instead of pronoun

As dpark mentioned, code formatting doesn't work well for quotes here. I like to use this format which is about as good as we can do with the limited formatting options available here:

  > *A sentence or paragraph without line breaks.*
  
  > *Another paragraph of the quote*.

The blank line keeps the paragraphs from running together.

Since it's too late for you to edit, here's a mobile-friendly version of what your friend said:

> Somehow I really thought there would be an AIM emoji <emoji of man running: UTF-8 \xf0\x9f\x8f\x83\xf0\x9f\x8f\xbb>

and your reply:

> If any service should have an emoji standard, it’s AIM.

Using “code” indentation for quotes is completely unreadable on mobile. Just use asterisks to italicize.

For me the killer feature of AIM was P2P file transfer. Is there even a service today that does this? It was so easy to just click "send a file" and it worked fairly reliably. Dropbox comes close, but, of course, it is not a direct file transfer.

You can send files P2P using WebRTC. I've never used it, but https://www.sharedrop.io/ came up in a quick search.

For something more in the vein of AIM, pretty sure Skype lets you send files too.

IRC allows files to be sent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Client-to-Client - it's not a great protocol however, particularly when used with firewalls.

IRC file transfer is always a roll of the dice if you're going through NAT.

Yes. Check out instant.io, it uses webtorrent, which is powered by webrtc. All major browsers should be supported. Just pick the file and link your friend.

I send files during Skype conversations, so there's that. Sharing a Dropbox link to a file is also possible, but I always considered that clunky

Edit: oops, I didn't know that Skype got rid of P2P, now files are uploaded to their servers

IRC had this what, a decade before AIM even existed? I love reading about the great innovative features of the huge multitude of modern chat apps we have these days, which were present in software from the '90s. The more things change...

IRC UX is terrible

Telegram allows file transfer up to 1.5Gb. It's not P2P though.

Skype used to do P2P until like 2 years ago, now all files shared are uploaded to their servers.

We are sadly still using Skype at work, and due to the lack of P2P file transfer I'm really sketched out sending database dumps, certificates, and other sensitive content with it to colleagues.

Hmm I didn't notice there was a server in between the file transfer, looks like I'll have to reconsider how I transfer files

Tox, like qTox supports file transfers.

I can't say that I've used it, however.

i loved that feature. i remember sending a 3gb file over the network in just over a minute (early 2ks)

That's a pretty large file, especially for early 2000s standards. I'm guessing DivX?

compressed binaries :)

.r00, .r01, .r02, ..., .rar? :)

FB Messenger supports sending files

that's not p2p file transfer.

Out of the western networks, Kik, Telegram, and Viber still do usernames.

Kik, notably, still has a fairly laissez-faire culture and a userbase that skews young, which makes it the most comparable modern network to the feel of something like AIM in its heyday; with the difference that so many people having overlapping identities, discourse is now fragmented between various platforms for reasons more than just network effects.

Telegram requires a phone number even for the desktop app - that's just mind-boggling and a turnoff for me trying to move to a new service.

I should clarify, both Telegram and Viber allow usernames but require phone numbers for creation, and there's definitely an emphasis on phone numbers as the preferred identifier.

Kik (and Snapchat, if I recall) are two of an increasingly thinning number of networks which operate on usernames only, and you can use without giving the provider (or anyone you're trying to chat with) your phone number.

Agreed. Add to the fact that much like AIM back in the day, Kik is pretty craptastic compared to competing messaging apps. But, it's so fast and reliable that it makes it worth using.

How popular is Kik really? Snapchat for all its hype has had growth slowed like crazy and is in the lower hundred millions.

ICQ lives on as well, though not under the original management. The account I created in the 90s still works.

Just fired up ICQ - looks like Telegram, actually has a usable buddy list and voice and video chats, but unless you were one to have signed up pre-smartphone life they now require you to use your phone number for registration. Thankfully I signed up long, long ago. Almost 20 years ago.

I have my ICQ id.. If only I could remember the password

> I have my ICQ id

The real important question is how many digits.

If I recall correctly, six digit icq id's were selling for thousands of dollars.

Really? I have a 6-digit one (below 250K actually). I just fired it up this morning for the first time in years after reading about AIM.

Nah, $6+ if you buy in the right place. $300+ for 5-digits

http://www.myuin.com

I assume they were talking about in the past. Like a decade ago or earlier. Though 6 digit ones selling for thousands still seems a bit much unless they were appealing rounded numbers. 5 digits for thousands of dollars was def a thing in the mid 00s.

Bingo. Today's value of the network is different. Kind of the value of twitter handles before insta and snap showed up

Things have changed even more. The person with NYC or NewYorkCity IG handle now has a lucrative reportedly 6 figure income from that profile now by promoting NYC things.

Wow, just logged into my 6 digit ICQ for the first time in years. I can’t believe I remembered my password.

Low 7 digits. Only about 12 months earlier it was much lower, iirc

Low 8 digits, though I had an earlier one I lost the password to.

sigh

Isn't it hosted on the AIM server though?

It was sold to Mail.ru a long time ago. I think Mail.ru sold them a couple of years ago. They say they still have millions of users

I still keep it on my pidgin account list, though I can't recall actually sending a message on it for years.

Same here :) It's even worse, because I set it up with an XMPP gateway many years ago, and I don't even remember the password anymore :)