The Killer App not so killer anymore

E-mail still has the most usage of any activity utilizing the Internet (according to Pew Internet & American Life Project). E-mail was regarded as the "killer app" of it's time but I think that is changing. Instant Messaging (or IM) is gaining ground quickly and I believe that it will cause us to reconsider how we use e-mail in the future and change our primary methods of communication.

I started using IM with my brother-in-law in Arkansas a few years ago but really started using it at work last year. We contracted with a consulting firm in New York and I wanted to watch our long-distance budget dollars. I found out that they used IM frequently so we determined to use it instead of phone calls when appropriate. It saved our company hundreds of dollars. One concern that I had was the documentation that e-mail provides, but historical logs still allow for documentation using IM. Here are some benefits for IM:
* saved budget dollars (see above)
* easy conversation -- quick, to the point, much more interactive that e-mail
* know immediately if someone is online or away from their desk, very productive
* keep in contact -- it doesn't take any time to send or receive an IM, so it's easy to check in throughout the day without wasting time
* portable accounts -- doesn't matter if your ISP or e-mail address changes

I use IM at work within our organization quite a bit. I work with a lot of people who are on different floors of our building and IM is very productive to ask a quick question, get a status update on a project, etc.

One great thing about it is that IM is free! The main companies that provide IM are AOL (AOL Instant Messenger or AIM), ICQ, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, and IRC. I use a tool called Trillian that can connect to any of these main IM companies' platforms. Some of my friends and coworkers prefer AIM and some MSN but with Trillian, I can connect to them all through one interface.