“AOL changes course, joins standards effort.
A move to get instant messaging products to talk to one another
gained momentum last week after a public shouting match between
Microsoft and America Online helped nudge AOL into a standards
effort it had previously shunned.”
” ‘An instant messaging standard is inevitable, and it seems the
technology has penetrated the market to the point that a standard
is necessary,’ says Randy Vaughn, an IS professor at Baylor
University who uses instant messaging software to communicate with
his students instead of fielding telephone calls.”
“Changing course, AOL officials Friday said they will work
closely with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) group
developing the instant messaging standard. … Missing from the
committee is Microsoft, which is engaged in a still-unresolved
battle with AOL regarding the ability of their instant messaging
systems to work together.”
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