Take AIM ... FIRE!
I like to try to keep up to date, more or less, with what's going on in technology-land, but one thing that has totally passed me by is instant messaging. That is, until yesterday.
Wife and I were visiting some friends, and the female one said that she IMs her sister often, cos sis is pregnant and stuff. And we were like, umm how does it work? So she gave us a demonstartion, with webcam and phone connected and typing and all sorts of shit going on. It was like watching Jean-Michel Jarre in concert or something.
So of course once Wife had fallen asleep, I crept up to my computer and decided to look into this phenomenon a little more closely. And I set up an AIM account.
It's a constant source of wonder to me how little we really do with our computers other than work.
I guess other than surfing the Internet and buying online, we pretty much just use them for sticking songs on the iPod or blogging. But Apple Macs are so fucking versatile that it is a crying shame not to use them for more, really.
This morning, then, Wife and I started AIMing one another via the iChat application. (How ridiculous is that? We're sat about 5ft away from one another.) Then fuck me if I didn't discover we have little built-in microphones too. Who the fuck knew?! So we can literally talk to one another. Well, of course we can anyway, but you know, through the computer! Amazing.
I don't know how all this shit never occurred to me before. I have a good friend in Sydney, Australia, who I rarely speak to because ... well, I guess because we're both cheapskates? Usually we speak no more than twice a year, one of those being New Year. But I guess now we can chat more often, and for free. This is ... Wow. I've entered the third millennium.
But am I right in thinking that AIM people can't message Yahoo! people? Are we back in VHS/Betamax territory again? And if so, which is best? Or are they basically the same? Oh, so many confusing questions to be answered...
The other problem, though, is that I am usually sat at my computer when there is work to do, and I probably don't really need any more distractions than blogging already provides. Oops.
Here's one of our chats just before lunch this afternoon:
Wife and I were visiting some friends, and the female one said that she IMs her sister often, cos sis is pregnant and stuff. And we were like, umm how does it work? So she gave us a demonstartion, with webcam and phone connected and typing and all sorts of shit going on. It was like watching Jean-Michel Jarre in concert or something.
So of course once Wife had fallen asleep, I crept up to my computer and decided to look into this phenomenon a little more closely. And I set up an AIM account.
It's a constant source of wonder to me how little we really do with our computers other than work.
I guess other than surfing the Internet and buying online, we pretty much just use them for sticking songs on the iPod or blogging. But Apple Macs are so fucking versatile that it is a crying shame not to use them for more, really.
This morning, then, Wife and I started AIMing one another via the iChat application. (How ridiculous is that? We're sat about 5ft away from one another.) Then fuck me if I didn't discover we have little built-in microphones too. Who the fuck knew?! So we can literally talk to one another. Well, of course we can anyway, but you know, through the computer! Amazing.
I don't know how all this shit never occurred to me before. I have a good friend in Sydney, Australia, who I rarely speak to because ... well, I guess because we're both cheapskates? Usually we speak no more than twice a year, one of those being New Year. But I guess now we can chat more often, and for free. This is ... Wow. I've entered the third millennium.
But am I right in thinking that AIM people can't message Yahoo! people? Are we back in VHS/Betamax territory again? And if so, which is best? Or are they basically the same? Oh, so many confusing questions to be answered...
The other problem, though, is that I am usually sat at my computer when there is work to do, and I probably don't really need any more distractions than blogging already provides. Oops.
Here's one of our chats just before lunch this afternoon:
permalink posted by * (asterisk) at 10:56 AM
20 Comments:
welcome to the world!
if you sign up to yahoo's instant messenger service, you will find most of us there: dinners, dullard, camie vog, bawbags myself etc. and with the wonder that is a web cam, there is no end to the fun.
no, seriously! there is nothing as surreal as sitting in my kitchen (for thats where i am) talking to one person in lancashire, one in scotland and a couple in different u.s. time zones, yet they could all be in the next room! hell, even a technophobe like me has chatted to someone in australia!
enjoy!
I was just going through some of my old e-mails this morning, and I found one from you inviting me to a Yahoo IM chat, but I guess I must have ignored it, not knowing what the hell it was or what to do. So I'm sorry for being rude and ignoring it -- I was scared of the computers taking over my brain! I'll have to look into the Yahoo one then and set up an ID, since that's obviously where all the cool kids hang out.
Talking to the wife through a mic on the pc from 5 feet away? I like it. I'll try it. I can switch her off when i like! Love it!
Yahoo is fine, the webcam software there seems to be the best. AIM is real clunky. MSN (now known as WLM, which is nice and close to WTF!) seems to be where everyone in the UK is these days...and now MSN/WLM people can talk to Yahoo people and vice versa. Skype is cool, but I still ge a damn lag talking to people. And I miss ICQ a bit, cos it used to go 'uh-oh!' when you got a message...it's full of spyware these days.
But my favouritest is the IM thing on the left of my GMail (PC only, sorry Mac sandal-wearing one-mouse-button laggers). Great stuff - was surprised by Tanya (who wears purple) the other day. Cool stuff.
Haha loves Red's final comment. Thanks for the tip, I'll try it with my cheapskate friends (not excluding myself) and distant relatives.
Quality post. Haven't seen this fancy AIM stuff, but we're all MSNed up in the office, which is slightly scary (when your boss is on it) but great for bitching about people and making the kind of crap jokes you'd be ashamed to say out loud.
no offence taken. i had forgotten i had sent you an invite!
bit worried that you are i.m-ing someone who is in throwing distance, but my missus reckons it would be the only way we would have a real conversation these days. hmmm.
Isnt technology great?
New ways to ignore for your mrs to ignore you.
There was a time when I thought phoning something in the same room would be beyond the limits of human stupidity. Now I see it all the time. Are my standards to high or are we as a species regressing?
now can you help me? how do i put music into my blog? i think you may have already told me, but i have lost the plot! cannot seem to find the code/http type thing.
aaaaaaargh!
Tis mainly how the LFB and I have kept in contact on and off for nigh on five years...via yahoo.
it seems that red is less into it than you are...:p
I am addicted to msn.. it has kept me in touch with my friends and family back home as it is my only link now to where I was and what I constantly miss.
thank god for chat softwares.
I have saved myself heaps of money chatting via IM but as you say it takes up loads of time when I should really be writing.
Oh, well!
I can't imagine living without MSN or a.n.other messenger program, though being in a different country to most of my friends & family obviously contributes there.
though the time-wasting aspect is considerable. As I also post regularly on 3 different messageboards and keep up to date with a 4th. Argh.
I must say, though, that IMs can suck out your life. No, really. I went online to check email and ended up chatting to a friend for 2 hrs on the IM thingy. Lost track of time.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's very useful. And I am LOVING Skype. A week ago I stayed up until midnight talking to my friend Joe in Cape Town FOR FREE!! And we chatted from around 9:30pm onwards. Was nice.
PS: If you are on AIM, you can always drop me a line - email me and I'll give you my handle.
On yahoo and MSN as well. And Skype, of course.
Geminis LOVE communicating. The internet was made for Geminis.
I had to give up IM-ing...I wasn't getting anything done! Now of course blogging has filled that void. :)
I did just sign up for a gmail account to associate with my blog and like Shep, I think the IM feature on there is pretty cool.
Wow, everyone is so mucm more techno techno techno techno than me. Guess I shoulda known, since most of you have been blogging way longer than me too.
Skype sounds amazing, so maybe one day I'll look into that more fully. In the meantime, I'll investigate Yahoo.
Cappy: What sort of music posting are you meaning? If you mean so that music plays automatically when someone goes to your blog, I am afraid I don't know. If you mean the sort of thing I do with audio posts, upload an mp3 to odeo.com.
_z.: "it seems that red is less into it than you are" -- story of my life ;-)
I use IM every now and then, I completely forgot I have it...I tried to turn it on just now reading this post...but its on the fritz...
I have a couple of friends who that is all they use, they love it, I find it a bit distracting but sometimes I get into it, it is amazing that it's just part of stuff, yep got the camera and mic too. Almost never use the camera. In fact when we first got the computer we were playing with it and then our faces appear and we were both so freaked out...didn't know what was going on! I almost always have a little post it not over the camera because I am paramoid big brother wills ee me in my slacker ensemble of plaid robe all day long...
my email is my meassenger if you and Red want to sign me into you IM...
welcome to the world of instant messaging... i, too, use the google im, and it's been a great tool too keep up with friends who've moved all over the place
stopped using aim after college though... we ALL did it in college
oh, and love the convo between you and red... SO CUTE! my roommate in college and i used to do im, too... made fun of ourselves, but it was funny :)
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