Name: LGR--AIM回顧展。RIP 1997-2017 (LGR - AIM Retrospective: RIP 1997-2017)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:51:23.000Z
Duration: 6 min 46 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

After 20 years of service,  AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM,

finally shuts down for good on December 15, 2017.

The iconic running man  will finally stop running,

and let's be honest, that guy needed a break,  seeing as AIM's once highly appealing functionality

is now included in nearly every social media  service and communications app out there.

But, back when it launched in May of 1997,  AOL Instant Messenger was an instant hit!

A lot of this was due to the fact that the Internet service  it launched under, America Online, was massive,

with over 8 million monthly subscribers at the time.

But with the original release of AIM,  you no longer needed an AOL subscription to chat.

Originally, AOL's Instant Messenger was simply  a built-in feature of the America Online desktop software,

It lets you use the communication protocol known as OSCAR,

or "Open System for Communication in Real time,"  to type back and forth with other AOL subscribers,

although the same protocol was also used  in later services such as ICQ and Apple iChat,

so the underlying tech is not  exclusive to AIM in this respect.

It's also worth noting that AIM was  similar to and containted features from

AOL's once popular chat rooms, even  though it remained a distinct service.

Chat rooms were often centered  around discussing a certain topic,

where anything you typed  would be visible to the group.

But with Instant Messenger, what you typed wasn't  public for an entire chatroom to see, it was all private.

As long as you signed up for a free  account and downloaded the AIM client,

you could communicate with anyone  who had an AIM or AOL screen name.

They were barely legible and  often embarrassing in retrospect,

and they made your Buddy Lists look  like a word scramble of the highest order.

But sometimes, they became so synonymous with  your online persona, that you just never gave it up!

Like in my case, where my AIM  screen name was phreakindee,

the same user name I chose for  this very YouTube channel back in 2006,

although it was stylized "Phreaaake Indaaee"  back when I chose it 15 years ago because...

it was 2002 and that's just what you did.

I also remember what a big deal  it was to have a unique Buddy Icon,

which was perhaps the first time  I chose an avatar to represent myself online.

Super commonplace now, but  back then, the idea was rather fresh.

It was all the rage to use a Buddy Icon with your  favorite band, movie, TV show, quotation, or whatever else.

but you could also make your own or download  them for free on massive Buddy Icon websites,

and WOW, are these a time capsule of animated  teenage angst and sparkly adolescent sentiments.

But even further down  the rabbit hole of AIM self-expression

were the Profile Pages and the Away Messages.

Ah, the carefully crafted and retrospectively pointless walls  of text I wrote, often filled with cryptic song lyrics,

copious ellipses, and more than a few passive-aggressive  words directed towards like, one person in particular.

Another feature of AIM that I used  quite a bit was the integrated file sharing.

In the days before copious free cloud storage,  sending files directly over email or FTP was often a pain,

especially if you just wanted to share a single  image or a downloaded MP3, and, let's be honest,

the latter is what it was most of the time.

After all, the peak of AIM happily coincided with  the peak of peer-to-peer file sharing programs like

But as fun as these extra features were, the real  star attraction of AIM was the chat window itself.

Unfortunately, the classic versions of the program  I used to use back in the day were shut down back in 2015,

But the basic idea is the same as the final version you're  seeing, including the custom fonts and text backgrounds.

I don't remember anyone sticking to the default typeface.

It was all about choosing a custom font  and color scheme that represented *you*.

Half the time the chosen combination made you want  to gouge your eyes out, but dangit, we did it anyway.

it was just awesome to be able to chat on a computer with  your friends, family, and colleagues worldwide in real time.

Granted, this wasn't exclusive to AOL Instant Messenger,

and AIM wasn't always even the most  popular option, especially outside of the USA.

Heck, even just among my circle  of friends, I remember using ICQ,

Not to mention programs like Trillian, which sought  to combine a variety of clients under one roof, including AIM.

It also included extra features and enhancements,

and in particular, the custom skins stood out to me,  since it was something I could create myself.

But, whatever service or client you used,

Instant Messaging back then provided communication  that was faster and more engaging than email,

while also being less formal than a phone call.

And in the days before omnipresent  cell phones and unlimited texting,

IM'ing was the method of choice for me  to talk to my friends wherever they were.

And sure, AIM wasn't the only game in town,  but it was certainly the one I spent the most time with,

And now that AIM is shutting down for  good in 2017, I feel myself a bit saddened.

Not because I'll miss the functionality, because, it's been  replaced by a wide array of more convenient apps and services.

Hardly anyone has had the need  or desire to use AIM in years,

and by 2011, it only held less than 1% of  the entire Instant Messenger market worldwiide.

So no, what I'll genuinely miss though, are  the smiles enjoyed over late night conversations, and...

that feeling of excitement every time  I logged on back in the day.

To someone who often felt awkward  getting to know people face to face,

AIM helped lead to all sorts of friendships, relationships,  and experiences that I otherwise might not have had.

So even though I won't miss the service itself,

I'm grateful it existed when it did, and...  I'm just happy to have the memories.

But there are some taking it even further,

by making games that mimic  the AIM experience, like Emily Is Away.

So while AIM might be dead and gone,  its legacy continues to live on,

either through creative virtual recreations

or the countless Instant Messaging apps  available on practically every device today

that owes at least a little bit of  its existence to AOL Instant Messenger.

And if you enjoy this episode of LGR, then  perhaps you'd like to see some of my others.

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LGR--AIM回顧展。RIP 1997-2017 (LGR - AIM Retrospective: RIP 1997-2017)

awkward

entire

massive

engage