[Air-l] The death of chat?

Guillaume Latzko-Toth latzko-toth.guillaume at uqam.ca
Wed Sep 24 13:35:32 PDT 2003


Here in Canada, the French CBC radio channel only briefly mentioned the 
news that "...MS has decided that their chat system will not be free 
anymore". So the emphasis is put on the business strategy.

I havent' had time to read MS press release yet, but I would go in the J. 
Sternberg's sense and say that definitely, MSN does not equal chat, that 
IRC is still expanding, and that numerous chat applications are florishing.

Chat, as a practice, has never been so ubiquitous, going beyond personal 
computers towards cellphones. It is even giving birth to new language 
varieties. It's not only a specific, fast-spreading mode of communication 
(comprising not only text, but also image and voice); it's becoming a 
cultural fact.

Chat has always been despised and contempted for being not only mondane, 
but trivial, and a place where hackers, paedophiles, and so on are 
gathering -- the Dark Side of the Internet. So how many times have we heard 
"Cassandres" threaten: "this should be / will be regulated", if not simply 
terminated.

We must be very cautious not to relay these discourses. As far as I know, 
MS has had a long term strategy concerning chat communication. They have 
paid social researchers to make surveys, and experiment various interfaces 
in order to make a good marketable product. They have literally looted the 
open, free IRC protocol (has they are used to) to build their own Microsoft 
Chat Network. In the same time, MS fought very hard to try to impose MSN 
Chat Messenger as a standard "de facto". Non-interoperability of instant 
messaging services is the key of profitability.

Moreover, it not a news that Microsoft is engaged in a process of 
suppressing all free services or making them inusable. Just think of 
standard Hotmail service; think of the "2 months free" offer to use their 
"MSN suite".

Actually, all this being said, I would think that if there is to be a 
sector of the Internet with which to begin the forced paiment for use, chat 
would be a good candidate.

Guillaume Latzko-Toth





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