AOL Instant Messenger To Shut Down

Those of you whom have been around the days of browsing the Internet and the World Wide Web since the beginning will remember America On-Line's AOL Instant Messenger. Also known simply as AIM, it helped pioneer the days of social media, people using the Internet and being online to get in touch and chat with one another instead of simply looking up information and checking email. But like many other pioneers in technology, it became outclassed by later products. It was announced earlier this month by the VP of Communications of Oath, the company created by the merger of AOL and Yahoo, that AOL IM would be shutting down in December 2017 after 20 years of operation.

If you were a 90’s kid, chances are there was a point in time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was a huge part of your life. You likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists. Right now you might be reminiscing about how you had to compete for time on the home computer in order to chat with friends outside of school. You might also remember how characters throughout pop culture from “You’ve Got Mail” to “Sex and the City” used AIM to help navigate their relationships. In the late 1990’s, the world had never seen anything like it. And it captivated all of us.

AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed. As a result we’ve made the decision that we will be discontinuing AIM effective December 15, 2017. ... Thank you to all of our AIM users.

The announcement was made on Twitter and Tumbler, two newer messengers that helped displace AIM into irrelevance, and ended by promising to "continue building the next generation of iconic brands" and "provide more products and experiences."

And so, a peice of life on the early Internet is fading away into the history books.

Source: CNN

Bixyl Shuftan

AOL Closing Winamp Next Month

Winamp, a popular music player which has been playing tunes on peoples' computers since the late 90s, will no soon no longer be available for download. It was announced that after Dec 20, its owner AOL will close down it's website and no longer support the program.

Winamp was created by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev in 1997, who would found Nullsoft a year later. By that time, the player in it's various versions had been downloaded over three million times. By the year 2000, there were over 25 million users. By this time, it was now the property of a larger company. In June 1999, AOL bought up Nullsoft and Winamp for 80 million.

Winamp's fortunes began to decline after the introduction of iTunes, but a number of it's people blame AOL for it's problems. Rob Lord, it's first general manager, spoke in a 2012 interview, "There's no reason that Winamp couldn't be in the position that iTunes is today if not for a few layers of mismanagement by AOL that started immediately upon acquisition." It is believed Winamp still brings in six million dollars a year in revenue.

Despite the problems, Winamp continued to see developments, and it's apparently remained popular with computer users. The news of the closure was announced within some Second Life groups, "… if you want to continue to use Winamp … it's advisable you download the latest version." Shockwave Yareach, a Second Life DJ, commented, "Pity, I use it a lot. (I) even bought the pro version. Best twenty bucks I ever spent, since the license is good permanently. … lots of DJs in Second Life use it." Of the company, Shockwave remarked, "I understand now what happened to Time-Warner/AOL. If your management can't make money with the Internet standard already in place, you shouldn't be in business."

This might not be the last word for the music player. There are stories of negotiations behind the scenes for a sale. And if the "servers do go dark, Winamp will likely remain available through BitTorrent and other unauthorized sources." Considering how in it's early days, Winamp was the player of choice of music downloaded through the controversial Napster file-sharing service, some of it's longtime fans might consider this an ironic fate.

Sources: CNN Money, Time Tech, Ars Technica,


Bixyl Shuftan