BIT320 Remix — AIM

November 27, 2005

AIMing carefully at the Target: User Interface

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SuperMatt was talking about aim and its functionality. I feel like as if new and new versions came out, they got worse and worse. So I finally switched to Trillian. Trillian is super nice. Its one intergrated user interface to chat on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and ICQ. And it has other features such as being able to talk behind an away message and being invisible and still chatting. It’s my favorite. ;)

But if you do like the AIM interface, you can dead aim. You can get it at oldversion.com. Which has very similar features to trillian but it only logs onto aim ;(.

But in regards to User interface, I think a lot of the times, the problem is that the companies are so focused on getting the software out to the consumers and if you think about it, the people who are creating the interface are the ones who created the program, so they are at a disadvantage because they know this program in and out and won’t really see how someone who has no idea will approach the program. Its not an excuse because they can make sure make up for the disadvantage. ahhh well, part of me is like, if we are going to complain we should become engineers or get in the field somehow ;D

In Shady Waters, 11/27/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

November 25, 2005

The New AIM

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For some reason every time I was running AIM on my computer it was really slowing down my performance. To resolve this problem I decided to delete the program and reinstall. I downloaded the new version of AIM which is now called AIM Triton which is supposed to get well beyond ordinary instant messaging. However I am disappointed with the new chat program. It is not user friendly nor logical. I think that too often computer companies are interested in releasing programs that are fun or easy to create as opposed to truly understanding their consumer and trying to meet their needs. What do you guys think? Similarly, I heard rumors (from my Microsoft insider) that the next version of Office will provide users with a completely different interface yet will not provide any additional functionality. I believe this a a ploy by Microsoft to get users to upgrade. With all of these companies not worrying enough about consumers it’s easy to see how Google could come in and quickly gain prominence.

In SuperMatt, 11/25/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

October 17, 2005

In case you want to amp up your AIM fixation

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Free funky AIM files

In del.icio.us/pinkfootsie, 10/17/2005 | Original | Archive

October 3, 2005

Enterprise Instant Messaging

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Several recent blog entries (JB, Blogstar, Supriya) discuss the use of instant messaging in the workplace.  Several companies offer enterprise instant messaging (EIM) products, including Microsoft (Communicator 2005), Jabber, IBM (SameTime), Oracle, and Novell (Groupwise).  Interestingly, both AOL and Yahoo have been largely unsuccessful at introducing their own enterprise instant messaging clients.  The advantage of using EIM over traditional public IM is the ability to audit, encrypt, and log messages (especially important to ensure regulatory compliance).

I used Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 during my internship this summer.  In fact, the group I worked in was tasked with marketing this product to corporations.  The primary goal of EIM is to allow workers to collaborate better within the organization or outside the organization with business partners.

I am going to discuss a few of the features I thought were very cool and useful in a work environment:

  • Rich Presence – I could conveniently check whether my co-workers were available through the Communicator contact list, which was synched with Outlook’s calendar.

  • Integration with Telephony Infrastructure – With Communicator, I could initiate, accept, transfer, forward, divert calls, or even add other people to a phone conversation.  Whenever I received a phone call, a pop-up notified me of the incoming call and provided me with the identity of the caller.  Once in a call, my presence automatically changed to “on the phone.”

  • 1:1 Video and Voice communication

  • Federation – Communicator could communicate with other IM networks (AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and ICQ).

In Kevin's Blog, 10/03/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

October 2, 2005

AIM @ Work

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After reading zee’s blog along with jb’s blog I would agree that AIM is impersonal but at the same time I find easier to communicate through AIM. I find it easier to express something through AIM that I may have had difficulty doing in person. In a way it’s similiar to blogging. I thing Bud mentioned that one purpose of setting up our blogs was to have an impact on our in-class participation. Once we get comfortable communication via blogs, we would find it much easiers to express ourselves in class as well. Regarding AIM at work, I’m not really a fan of. Speaking off of personal experience I find AIM to be distracting when I’m trying to get work done. I have a  T-Mobile SideKick which is know for it’s special built in AIM feature, and I find that I have to disconnect from it during class because my buddies would constantly IM me while I’m trying to pay attention in class. So unless you’re working on a group project or something of that matter, I would say that AIM is more of a distraction than anything in the workplace.

In The Blogstar, 10/02/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

AIM

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JB recently wrote a blog about how her friend thought AIM was too impersonal. I think that is the point of AIM. It will never subsititute face to face or phone conversations. I I agree that it is for quick messages, but sometimes AIM can get addictive and you end up spending more than just a “quick” moment at the computer. Because of this, I don’t think an AIM type chat should be installed at the workplace. It can serve as a distraction during work which may lower productivity. But this also depends on how well you get along with your co workers!

In zee124, 10/02/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati

AIM: too impersonal?

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A friend recently told me that he doesn’t use AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) because it is too impersonal. I think the quick, impersonal nature of AIM is exactly the reason most of us college kids use it. Why waste your cell phone minutes when all you need to know is which pages you’re supposed to read for tomorrow’s class? Why try to call 8 people at once when you can just IM them all and let them know which bar to meet at? I don’t think AIM is supposed to be a substitute for face-to-face or phone conversations. If you think of it as a substitute, then yes, it is a very poor and impersonal substitute. I think AIM conversations fall into their own category: quick, easy and impersonal. That’s my opinion; I’d be interested to hear what others think.

Does anyone have an opinion on AIM in the workplace? My company had its own verson of instant messaging, but close to no one uses it, so I’m not really sure what I think about it.

In jb's blog, 10/02/2005 | Original | Archive | Post to del.icio.us | Technorati