AOL is Officially Shutting Down it’s Instant Messenger

A sad loss for one of the institutions of the early days of the internet

It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when AOL dominated the online market. Those of you in your late 20’s or 30’s can likely remember all of the ‘free trial’ cd-roms AOL gave out in a desperate bid to dominate the early doors in the UK internet market. To a degree, it did succeed. I myself used to use AOL regularly in my internet infancy. With the increase in home modem ownership (56k incidentally) a lot of other providers came onto the scene. Their remit was simple, pay as you go internet for the cost of a phone call. The rest, as they say, is history.

AOL has still managed to keep going, in one form or another. It certainly, however, is not the powerhouse it once was. We did once report that nearly 3,000,000 people were still using the dial-up function of the service. Yes, dial-up with the crazy beeping noises. The writing, even at the time of writing that article, was on the wall for AOL.

RIP AOL AIM

Out of all of AOL’s product, the instant messenger was certainly one of the most resilient. Known more commonly by its abbreviation AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) many people were still using it. The recent purchase of AOL by Verizon gave some hope, but alas, that has been proven to be short-lived.

In truth, it was an excellent messenger/e-mail service and even was the source to the synonymous ‘you’ve got mail’ announcement.

In a report via the Guardian, AIM is officially and sadly coming to an end.

AOL has announced that as of the 15th of December, users will no longer be able to log into the service. E-mail accounts will not be affected, but you’re not going to be able to use the messenger anymore to check either.

They have cited an obvious move away from the medium for most users to more popular or convenient social media sites.

So, therefore, we will bid AOL AIM a fond farewell. Admittedly it’s been years since I used it myself (about 15 to be more accurate), but still, it marks the end of one of the last staples from the early days of the internet.

Do you still use AOL AIM? Will you miss it or do you think it was inevitable? Let us know in the comments!