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ICQ, RIP: Why all instant messaging disappears (in the end)
ICQ's impending shutdown is making us downright nostalgic. How do you remember using the once mighty cross-platform client?
I thought so, but a little digging led me to discover that Jarkko "WiZ" Oikarinen, a student at the University of Oulu in Finland, developed IRC to replace a program called MUT (MultiUser Talk) on his Bulletin Board System (BBS) OuluBox. They declined as the IM services either shut down or were absorbed into larger platforms -- such as MSN Messenger merging into Skype -- and the rise of proprietary protocols made it increasingly difficult for third-party clients to keep up. Another factor, and the reason why ICQ is flying the white flag, was the rise of mobile devices and social media in the late 2000s, which eroded the dominance of the old desktop IM clients.
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