The text travels through the Internet through typical data packets, which are individual, numbered chunks of a file sent through the network in pieces and reassembled at the recipient end. Different programs let you customize how to deal with incoming messages, so there are ways to monitor privately or even block unwanted queries, without letting the sender know you’re available. Once on the network, you can also send messages to almost anyone using the same service you have, as long as they happen to be logged on too. If you're not logged on, you can’t get messages, period. As soon as you sign onto an IM service, the software tells the instant messaging server you’re logged on and ready to receive messages. So, unlike with e-mail and voice mail, you can’t leave an instant message in an IM in-box - that would pretty much defeat the point of its moniker, anyway.
Instant messages are fast in part because they know who’s available at any given moment to chat. It’s not as real-time as a phone conversation, but it leaves e-mail in the dust.
In an age where speed is everything, the beautiful thing about instant messaging is regardless of how fast - or slow - your modem is, IMing is virtually immediate. Imagine being unable to call a Verizon user from your Nextel phone, or being unable to e-mail your Qualcomm Eudora software to someone using the Microsoft Outlook program.Ībout half of the online population dips into IM mode once a week, up about 13 percent from the previous year, estimates Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research. This is one reason the Federal Communications Commission, in its role as a communications regulator, stipulated that AOL open its instant messaging service in approving the AOL-Time Warner merger. But as the technology advances, the lack of cross-platform communication could be problematic, setting an anti-competitive stage. While this wouldn’t be convenient, it’s not difficult either for now, at least, instant messaging programs are downloadable for free.
0 kommentar(er)
