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cool but destined to the same fate as meebo. the major IM players will never backdoor each other with out-of-agreement access to each others' users. if they wan

cool but destined to the same fate as meebo. the major IM players will never backdoor each other with out-of-agreement access to each others' users. if they wanted to, they could have all been doing that years ago, on mobile too. don't try to out-reason things, just accept that even though X and Y could interract trivially with open-source access libs, they would rather sit in a room for six months and do a one-off deal. so unless these guys get their own rev model, they will end up just like meebo...a cool service that is immune to acquisition

immad 18y ago
Immune to acquisition from major IM networks. That still leaves the options of a) everyone else. b) hitting revenue and creating a viable long-term business.
- gustaf 18y ago
  Luckily the vast majority of our traffic is between Heysan-Heysan users. On a high level IM is becoming a commodity. I'm not bullish on the long-term survival of MSN Messenger in it's current form. Facebook has just launched a much more relevant IM service than MSN or AIM will ever be. The fundamental problem with IM remains, it's hard to monetize. As is social networking. With a built-in micropayment system the chances of succeeding there increases. That's why mobile makes a massive difference.
  - immad 18y ago
    Were you more bullish on pure mobile IM when you started or was micropayments always in the roadmap?
dbrush 18y ago
If you'll read some of the other comments, particularly the ones from the Heysan team, you'll notice that they have established a revenue model and probably don't require your unsolicited advice and proclamations.
axod 18y ago
The existing IM networks have been bad/lazy about monetization. What meebo etc are doing is pretty cool. They have the audience, and now just have to turn the screws to extract money from them. Not everyone is after an acquisition, and as far as I remember Meebo has enough money to go a few years while they figure out how best to monetize their massive audience.

immad 18y ago

Immune to acquisition from major IM networks. That still leaves the options of a) everyone else. b) hitting revenue and creating a viable long-term business.

gustaf 18y ago
Luckily the vast majority of our traffic is between Heysan-Heysan users. On a high level IM is becoming a commodity. I'm not bullish on the long-term survival of MSN Messenger in it's current form. Facebook has just launched a much more relevant IM service than MSN or AIM will ever be. The fundamental problem with IM remains, it's hard to monetize. As is social networking. With a built-in micropayment system the chances of succeeding there increases. That's why mobile makes a massive difference.
- immad 18y ago
  Were you more bullish on pure mobile IM when you started or was micropayments always in the roadmap?

dbrush 18y ago

If you'll read some of the other comments, particularly the ones from the Heysan team, you'll notice that they have established a revenue model and probably don't require your unsolicited advice and proclamations.

axod 18y ago

The existing IM networks have been bad/lazy about monetization. What meebo etc are doing is pretty cool. They have the audience, and now just have to turn the screws to extract money from them. Not everyone is after an acquisition, and as far as I remember Meebo has enough money to go a few years while they figure out how best to monetize their massive audience.