Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Why I'm Giving Up on IMs

Instant Messengers (IMs) are wonderful software products... I've been on ICQ, MSN, AIM, and a number of other incarnations since elementary school, forced to use them at various companies and organizations, and still have a few accounts. However, I'm deciding to bring it all to an end... At least temporarily, though we'll see how it goes.

The idea behind technology is convenience, and passive information is wonderful -- I can log into Twitter, Google Reader, Blogspot, e-mail, and Facebook whenever I want. Furthermore, these services are passive -- I am not interrupted when working if I am logged into any of them (at least with my current settings). IMs are different. They run in the background and people can contact me whenever I'm on, whenever they want. This has become far from convenient, as I try to memorize theorems or write essays.

So it's time to say goodbye to the instant messenger. If you need me, you can still find me on G-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and of course, this blog.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree with you on MSN - but this due to the amount of bugs and viruses...what do you think of Skype?

Wojciech said...

I'm perpetually on "DND" on Skype, so that no one can message me. I like the tool, but only if I am in control of my time. My biggest complaint right now is logging in and getting messages from people when I can't chat.

That being said, I have noticed a significant increase of SPAM on MSN, so I know where you're coming from.