posted
Don't they know that if we don't keep up with instant messaging technology, the terrorists win?
-------------------- "Beer assuages grief. No one tells you that." ~Arrow-Tech IV Posts: 1612 | From: Darkest America (Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas) | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Both my mom and mother-in-law use IM when they're on the computer. The one time my dad IMed me from my sister's account he wrote it like a mini-email complete with a salutation and "Love, Dad". And then he left without a reply.
-------------------- Bender: Though you may have to make a metaphorical "deal with the devil". And by "devil", I mean the robot devil, and by "metaphorically" I mean get your coat. ------------ My sad site: A new way to be bored. Posts: 722 | From: Colorado | Registered: Mar 2004
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I've never been able to get into IM. Can't live without email though. One thing I hate about IM is how you don't really know if the person is paying attention or if a reply is forthcoming in seconds or minutes or hours. With email that doesn't matter, because the expectation is that it will be handled asynchronously. But IM could go either way, and its distracting to have it demand your attention.
Posts: 2018 | From: Santa Barbara, California | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I find IM a little annoying. Or maybe it's just that my husband can't seem to grasp the concept of sending a message and *waiting for a reply* before sending another one...and another one...and another one. IM'ing with my dad is even odder as he has an e.e. cummings fixation coupled with a complete inability to punctuate. Frankly, I'll just leave it for the kids
-------------------- If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation. - Jean Kerr Posts: 18428 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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quote:One thing I hate about IM is how you don't really know if the person is paying attention or if a reply is forthcoming in seconds or minutes or hours. With email that doesn't matter, because the expectation is that it will be handled asynchronously. But IM could go either way, and its distracting to have it demand your attention.
It's a different way of communicating. You can often predict the speed of replies by judging the flow of the conversation and the character of the person you're talking to and when that doesn't work, the best thing to do is to just be patient and see what happens.
-------------------- All along the untrodden paths of the future, I can see the footprints of an unseen hand. Posts: 6912 | From: Flanders | Registered: Jan 2004
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I'm this side of the gap. I don't like IM, because it's all so temporary. I need email archives because I go back and find stuff I need. With email it comes in and sits there until I respond. With IM, I have a sound or an animation or something, demanding that I respond. NOW!
One thing I don't care for, when I'm corresponding via email is when people don't include a copy of my email when they're responding so I know what the heck they're talking about. With IM, there is no copy. It's all new and right now. I like things on a more laid back kind of basis.
-------------------- Explore, enjoy and protect the planet --- AAMAH Posts: 8532 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:I need email archives because I go back and find stuff I need.
I have yet to find an instant messaging client that doesn't have an automatic log, either in plain text or colour-coded HTML.
I know this doesn't help against the urgency of IMs, but they're not quite as volatile as you present them.
-------------------- All along the untrodden paths of the future, I can see the footprints of an unseen hand. Posts: 6912 | From: Flanders | Registered: Jan 2004
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I started to use IM then found it to be mostly useless for me. Most of the time E-mail was a much better choice. I had a couple of friend that moved across the country or even to another country do to work. Do to each of us having families and jobs. I might see one of them online at the same time as I was about once a month to even use IM. The friend that were in the area had kids as well and finding them on line at the same time was hard as well. The phone was a much better way to commuicate with them.
Posts: 597 | From: Bellingham, WA | Registered: Nov 2005
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I used to use IM when I first got online (something like 10 years ago). It really irritated me when I was trying to research something or just surfing around and I'd get two or three IMs at a time. To me, it's like getting a knock at the door or a phone call when you're trying to read a book - purely an interruption (but then, I don't really like to talk on the phone, either). So now if I do have IM on (actually, I use Skype rather than a regular IM service) I have my status set to invisible or offline.
quote:I need email archives because I go back and find stuff I need.
I have yet to find an instant messaging client that doesn't have an automatic log, either in plain text or colour-coded HTML.
I know this doesn't help against the urgency of IMs, but they're not quite as volatile as you present them.
Plain text you say? I archive my emails as csv files.
I recall a bit of a log when I began using icq, many years ago, but I wasn't happy with it. IM is like a phone call to me. It's rt and immediate. I rarely have time to do the give and take it requires. Email is a patient friend. It waits until you take the time for it.
-------------------- Explore, enjoy and protect the planet --- AAMAH Posts: 8532 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2000
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I use IM all the time. I have friends I've never spoken to in real life- just via IM. And, free IM is a much better alternative to a phone call to Australia or England.
My mom will IM with me (she lives five minutes away and she has that e.e. cummings thing as well) and I'll just say, "Why don't you just call me?"
Yahoo has an archive option, but you have to click on that option through your preferences. Also, at the bottom of the window of all my IM programs (I use Yahoo most of the time, but I also have MSN, AIM, and Skype) have a line that says: "[screen name] is typing a message" when the person is typing.
I love IM. It gives me a fix to talk to other people and I type fast so it isn't an issue either.
-------------------- "Is it ME? Am I a MAGNET for these idiots?"~Pearl Forrester MST3K Die-Hard Engineers, Big Red One my Dad's website "Must be a 'snopes' thing..." ~my entire family when I try to explain something. Posts: 4524 | From: South of Madison, Wisconsin | Registered: May 2005
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What I find IM useful for is for just catching someone. With e-mail you kind of have to have a reason to talk to the person. With IM, it's easier to say hi just for the sake of it.
-------------------- seriously , everyone on here , just trys to give someone crap about something they do !! , its shitting me to tears. Posts: 16061 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Bug Muldoon: the best thing to do is to just be patient and see what happens.
Yeah, thats exactly why its a constant distraction in the background. Its always slightly easier to get anything done by turning IM off.
Posts: 2018 | From: Santa Barbara, California | Registered: Aug 2005
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