Instant Messaging

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There has been a lot of press about instant messaging over the past few months. I remember reading article after article about the wars between AOL Instant Messaging and MSN Messaging. Like most of us, I wondered what the big deal was - why were these two giants slugging it out over something minor like this?

Well, as it turns out, this is not really something "minor". There is actually quite a bit at stack - the company that controls instant messaging is poised to control much of the future of the internet.

Actually, it's not exacting the internet that they want to control - it's internet appliances. 

What is an internet appliance? Well, imagine the following scenarios:

• One article that I read mentioned a "smart toilet", which automatically examines human waste material for various infections and conditions. If it finds, say, blood it might send an alert because this could be a warning sign for cancer. Depending upon what is found, the alert could go directly to your doctor over the internet.
• Think about a smart refrigerator, which reminds you when you need to reorder the milk and ice cream. The refrigerator could order the items directly from the market for you automatically.
• Perhaps a smart television which you could program to download your favorite shows over cable modem, ready for viewing with your friends at night.
• Or a radio which downloads your favorite songs for your party, and automatically bills your credit card for the usage.

These are but a few of thousands of possible applications.

So here is the basis for the war over instant messaging - these internet appliances could talk to the internet and each other using instant messaging.

So the issue has nothing to do with my teenager chatting with his friends at 2 am and annoying his parents. No, it has to do with who will control the protocols for smart appliances. Which, in turn, defines who will be able to lay down the standards for the entire decade or perhaps even the century.

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