AOL Messenger

[Guest bergerboy]

Has anybody got AOL messenger working on their SPV.

[Guest Myke]

apparently AIM isnt big in europe, so a smartphone version hasnt been released... im guessing once the spvx is released in the US, they will port it over.. being 99.9% of americans use AIM.

there is a program out that does all the major chat clients. except its butt ugly.

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

Jabber CE if you're interested. Should be in the software catelogue...

[Guest Mr_Protozoa]

A bit OT i know, but....

Am I the only person who hates AOL with a passion?

[Guest Bazz]

Any particular reason? I don't use it cause I just want a net connection rather than all the other stuff that AOL gives you (and therefore can't be @rsed paying extra for it). I also don't like the fact it doesn't create a standard dial up (so you have to use their software and also can't do it from non-PCs. But I've never actually hated them. Think they are pretty good for customer service and the ideal newbie connection.

[Guest]

the ideal newbie connection.

'Nuff said!

[Guest jhew]

I've used aol since the year dot. Well, since '97 when I first got a modem. In that time I've never had any problems with them. Yeah, it's a pain that you have to use their software to connect, and the service can be a little slow at times.

However, I've recently moved over to ADSL with Nildram, so dont really have much use for them. I've still got my account with them tho, but only the 'light user' thing....just cant bring myself to get rid of the email address I've had for all these years just yet :)

[Guest Myke]

.. you guys seem to be confusing AIM with AOL. While they are under the same company they are completely different. AIM is even programmed by different people. It has far, far more features than AOL, its free, and it runs on whatever connection you already have.

so in short, AOL sucks but AIM is great

[Guest Bazz]

No confusion, we just drifted off topic. And since we'll all well off-topic now... I'll ask you the same question I asked Mr_Protozoa - why do you think AOL sucks? No reason or secret agenda, just curious. As I said AOL seems a good product to me with great support, but it's just not something I want or am willing to pay extra for.

[Guest HelloDave]

IMO AOL sucks big time, probably becuase I have a reasonable computer knowledge and therefore the interface annoys me becuase it's far too restricting - personally I like to be in control and despise having my hand held. I also hate them because they insist on posting me a damn trial CD every fortnight, charge extra for "content" that could be found using a quick Google search and I would gladly beat "Connie" with a large blunt instrument (sorry, but she p***es me off big time!). The fact that AOL - Time Warner seem bent on world media domination doesn't really endear me to them either!

Having said that, they are good for newbies and families I suppose, and free support earns them some brownie points. Tech support's insistence on talking to you like a child and saying stuff like "click OK, now click the teddy bear" etc does bug me, but you can level that criticism at most helplines, incuding Orange's... Sometimes I just wish I could phone up and say something like "tell me the IP address I want to know" instead of having to listen to ten minutes of "click OK", "now click next". It's not their fault of course - the whole point is that the support can help everyone!

[Guest]

I agree- I used to use AOL when they gave the best un-metered deal, but moved to broadband as soon as I could.

AOL is great for newbies and the family, which is the market that they are targeting (with success), but I felt patronised by the whole set-up.

And it’s not just AOL, many companies I feel patronise me when I phone their helpdesk. I know that they have to assume that the customer on the end of the phone isn’t an expert, but wouldn't it be great if you could prove to companies that you were knowledgeable and probably were more technically minded than some of the helpdesk staff? Have something put on file to tell the staff not to bother with the obvious stuff, something like ‘if this guy phones up it’s a real problem, he knows what he’s talking about’.

I would love to phone up Orange with a problem and hear “Ah yes Mr Kirby, I see from your account that you are not a noob, and are indeed quite knowledgeable, so I will dispense with the patronising ‘reboot phone, check call diverts’ and give you the straight answer that you are not receiving calls because the network is overloaded in you area. Is there anything else, Mr Kirby?”.

If only! :)

[Guest Bazz]

Yeah, but I must admit I'd consider myself technically astute and have been caught out a couple of time before when phoning a helpline and being made to jump the hoops: "Of course I tried that!" I screamed, "here I'll do it again now, while you're on the line to prove it doesn't work.... oh... errr.... that seems to have fixed it... thanks for your help... sorry for getting so upset for a moment there" Hastily hang up.

They've got to go through the basics cause 9 times out of 10 that's what it is - even if you're a so-called expert.

[Guest]

They've got to go through the basics cause 9 times out of 10 that's what it is - even if you're a so-called expert.

Oh, I agree, most of the time it is the basics, but if I phone AOL to say that I can't connect I don't want them to suggest that I check if the modem is switched on!

There are basics, and then there are basics. :wink:

[Guest jhew]

Adding to my previous post.... I'm damn glad I'm rid of AOL now (except for hanging onto my email address), I've seen the light, and the grass is definately greener on the other side! Thanks mainy to Nildram, who ROCK btw! ;)

When I first got a modem I went for AOL cos I didnt know any better. But back then AOL were a lot smaller and it was really really good. Mainly because you could go into a chat room and have a decent conversation with someone your own age. I made a lot of friends on AOL back then, some of whom I still keep in touch with to this day. Now however, it's little more than a cattle market populated by sad 13 (going on 25) year olds with nothing better to talk about than shaggin or how fit Kim Marsh, or whoever is. S**t we do the latter at work so I'll give 'em that one! :)

[Guest Mr_Protozoa]

I've been meaning to reply to this in ages, but have been distracted by women...

I hate AOL because they fuxxor your machine!

When I was working in IT support a couple of years ago people kept walking into the IT room and complaining that their laptop won't connect to the office network/internet connection.

Turns out that the AOL software changes something in the network settings that prevented it from accessing our servers. Which was indicated by the way the PC has to restart after the install (normal connections don't have to).

People then went along working, went home, reinstalled AOL at home, then came back in the next day asking why it wasn't working in the office (again)!!!!

We ended up banning all out staff from using AOL on company machines!

Plus AOL is for grannies, small children and noobs.

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

From what i remember (i used a trial CD from AOL years ago between ISP's), they use proprietry TCP/IP protocals for their dialer and browsing software. All in all a bad thing imho.

Anyway, dragging this topic slowly back on track...

AOL isn't as popular in the UK as an ISP as in the US, and as different as AIM and AOL may now be, they have the same origins. Those origins just weren't as popular in the UK 5 years ago.

The first IM client i ever used regulary was Y! for my irl mates, then ICQ shortly after for online mates, this was a good few years before it got swamped with 13 year olds spending all evening chating with vowelless sentences on MSN. I didn't use MSN for a few years after that (just before its boom), and now its the most popular client in the UK (still prefer trill/Y! over MSN really...)