It's a set of distributed messaging protocols that happens to be very widely deployed. Something else might replace it. I'd like tools that make it not matter

It's a set of distributed messaging protocols that happens to be very widely deployed. Something else might replace it. I'd like tools that make it not matter so much how I got a message from somebody. It could be an SMTP message or an SMS (or MMS) message or an XMPP message or a message through somebody's privately owned social network. Just put a little logo up in the corner so I have some sense of just what kind of message it was. Other than that, I want all those messages brought together in one place that I control and can get to from any device.