One thing I've been pushing for at AOL since I got here almost a year ago (wow, has it been that long?!??!) is a light version of AIM. Ted Leonsis, Jim Bankoff, and Jon Miller and I have had countless discussions about the issue and we've made huge progress.... this is really the future of AOL: light, fast, free products that compliment our bigger, more feature-rich products.
Elite folks don't want all the features in our mass market products--we know that.
Now that we're 1,000% focused on being an audience-based business (as opposed to an *access* business) there is no debate anymore. We have to make light, fast products for the A-listers. AOL has been a brand has been for the mass market, and it will still be, but we're ALSO going to have products for the elite users. Netscape, Light AIM, XDRIVE, and Weblogs, Inc's blogs are for elite users (as well as the mass market).
Over at the Greehouse they are now playing with "Light AIM" or "AIM Light" --or whatever we wind up calling this bad boy. I've had it for a while and it ROCKS. If your mom is on a three year old machine and the new feature-rich AIM Client is grinding her machine to a halt (not our fault!) go download AIM ES here: http://greenhouse.aol.com/prod.jsp?prod_id=27
AIM Light has no ads, no VOIP, no file-transfer, and a TINY footprint... in fact, I think it is the lightest IM client you run on your machine. This is something you could run on OLPC level machine (yes, I know it's a Windows product right now, but you get the idea).
Drop everything and go play with it... this is the future of AOL: light, open, cutting-edge, and elite AS WELL AS mass market.
AIM Light (or "AOL is a brand for elite users... not just your mom")
Reader Comments
(Page 1 of 2)2. Next step - adding tabs. I don't know a single "elite" IM user that would use an IM program without tabs.
Posted at 4:57PM on Oct 1st 2006 by Conrad Quilty-Harper
3. Nevermind! I see that tabs are included. Seriously, this is my new IM program. Great job on pushing this through Jason.
Posted at 4:59PM on Oct 1st 2006 by Conrad Quilty-Harper
4. I'd rather see the UI using native windows controls (like 5.9.x), but this is a great start to a better AIM.
What's the deal with you guys at AOL and wanting a winamp look to all your new apps? The native OS control look works perfectly fine.
Posted at 5:24PM on Oct 1st 2006 by mitch
5. This pretty exciting! As itself I don't see it as an exciting program but symbolically it does represent the change that AOL is making - putting the focus on the audience.
I agree with mitch though, native Windows controls would be very nice - and might even make the program "lighter" (and perhaps easier to port... though I'm no programmer so I don't know for sure)
6. it also includes file xfers =)
my only gripe is the subjectively ugly colours used...but adding a "theme" switcher is absolutely out of the question as it will only add bulk!
Posted at 7:05PM on Oct 1st 2006 by robotrock
7. "If your mom is on a three year old machine and the new feature-rich AIM Client is grinding her machine to a halt (not our fault!)"
Nice spin. Why should Mom need a fresh-off-the-shelf computer to do something like IM? The current "feature-rich" AIM client is as bloated as Microsoft Word.
I always assumed any software coming from AOL to be bloated, buggy, and impossible to uninstall cleanly. Way to prove me wrong!
Posted at 7:24PM on Oct 1st 2006 by Jason Baldwin
8. Since I can't edit my excessively snarky comment above, I'd like to backpedal and at least say "Good on you, AOL, for trying." I gave up on AIM (and instant messaging, in general) years ago.
The "(not our fault!)" part of the post still irks me.
Posted at 7:34PM on Oct 1st 2006 by Jason Baldwin
10. Glad to hear the positive feedback. One other feature of AIM Lite (aka AIM ET) that I'd like to mention is the fact that all the client-server traffic is run over SSL. Faster, cleaner, and more secure!
Posted at 11:47PM on Oct 1st 2006 by Justin Uberti
11. On my home PC i've been using AIM 5.9 because I preferred it to Triton, but looks like I've found a more than suitable replacement. Great work guys.
Only thing I'd really like to see - that I *think* is missing - is an option for message archiving.
Posted at 12:06AM on Oct 2nd 2006 by 2bad4u
12. Best new feature: All chats archived with the usernames removed, then published for research ;-)
Posted at 9:53AM on Oct 2nd 2006 by ferodynamics
13. All I can say is ... FINALLY! To bad I've already switched to GAIM. Nevertheless, I'm sure I will end up using this but I have already run into an issue with this Light software.. please consider adding the ability to modify logon ports so we can bypas firewalls etc.
14. To change the logon ports, for now you can change aimcc.connect.host.port= in your preferences file (located at "c:documents and settings\Application DataLAIM.txt)
Posted at 1:20PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by Justin Uberti
15. Glad to see a useful product made available at a such, let's say "challenging" time for AOL. Word of LAIM has made me come back to using IM after a three year break. The less features and flashing neon lights, the better. Certainly there is a flavor of nights and weekends lost baked into LAIM. Thanks to the engineers or engineer who developed this product.
Posted at 2:48PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by Stas
16. I love the lean-products-for-elite-users philosophy; as an elite user, I'm glad to see developers other than those guys who wrote vi starting to catch on to this.
I wonder if there are any plans to make this interoperable with Jabber servers, or if that would introduce too much bloat. GTalk + AIM = crazy del.icio.us
Posted at 4:29PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by Justin Peterson
17. LOVE this! I am switching back to AIM. I don't think you can change your buddy icon or organize the buddy list with this client. What if this type of rarely used but possibly useful functionality was via a web app? Think of it as streaming functionality to a thin client on demand.
pete
Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by Pete Mauro
18. I still think it has nothing on MiniAIM, 61k and just as many features.
www.miniaim.net
Posted at 7:40PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by macro_pheliac
19. I don't like it. The UI doesn't feel intuitive and I don't know why :) I'm staying with Miranda.
Posted at 4:01AM on Oct 4th 2006 by Dmitry Chestnykh
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1. Love it, but it needs sound. I would say I am a mainstream user... and I think mainstream user - not only elite users - woud love a light weight client as well. At least a client that doesn't have a million stupid features that we don't need.
Posted at 3:38PM on Oct 1st 2006 by sean