random thought re:ichat

[furcalchick]

okay, i'm visiting my school today and i see alot of people on macs instant messaging via aim. but they were using the aim for mac software instead of the ichat, which supports aim in the first place, pretty much putting aim software on the curb.

i would like to know why anyone would install the aim software via aim's site as opposed to ichat (this is just between the two programs, not the others such as adium, which supports multiple clients).

 

[ero87]

tons of switchers do this. They'll install AIM, Firefox, or even the horribly-clunky and useless AOL simply because it's what they're used to.

 

[dllavaneras]

tons of switchers do this. They'll install AIM, Firefox, or even the horribly-clunky and useless AOL simply because it's what they're used to.

Then why switch in the first place?

 

[SkyBell]

I use both. AIM and iChat. because I have two seperate AIM accounts, and it allows me to run them both at the same time.

 

[TheAnswer]

The aim.com side concentrates a lot more on getting people to download the software than having them get a screenname, so it might just be a case of people thinking they have to download it. Plus, I think switchers being used to the aim software is a big issue, so it's definitely something Apple needs to work harder to help people realize.

 

[TheAnswer]

I use both. AIM and iChat. because I have two seperate AIM accounts, and it allows me to run them both at the same time.

Have you tried out Adium? It will let you run multiple AIM accounts, MSN, Yahoo, and Jabber accounts all from the same interface. (Doesn't work for video or audio chat though, which is why I use it together with iChat).