Instant messaging: Lessons in pervasive

computing Chats, online meetings and pages, instant messaging may be among the most popular forms of information technology today. Instant messaging is available on a variety of platforms and its penetration into non-technical communities makes it the pioneer of pervasive computing. Its importance is reflected in the US Federal Communications Commission's restrictions on the approval of America Online's merger with Time Warner. Instant messaging provides lessons on four key attributes of pervasive computing: access, context, community and flexibility. You raise your hand at the city council meeting and speak into the microphone. As you begin your protest of the new road through your neighborhood, you simultaneously see supporting facts from your best friends on the visor display you are wearing. Friends at home provide quick answers to a question about the local demographics, and, with a word, you are able to provide a 360-degree simulation of the road to the council, one that illustrates some dangerous blind spots. The highway contractor is there, too. He makes his points with the jargon of his profession, but you get a realtime translation on your display. Within his many comments is an offer to use rerouting and stop signs to improve safety. You have found the starting point for a compromise. How this happens By any measure, instant messaging (IM) is a genuine phenomenon. Worldwide, cell phone users send more than 9 billion short text messages every month. Barnes & Noble has over 800 transcripts of chats with authors online. Over 60 million people use AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, on their personal computers-- a fact that no doubt led the US Federal Communications Commission to make the guarantee of interoperability of AOL IM services before offering “advanced IM-based high-speed services, ” such as videoconferencing, a key condition for approval of its mega-merger with Time Warner. The variety of ways IM manifests itself attests to its vitality and popularity: Chat-- This is the most basic form of IM. It is used for casual conversations with friends, making quick business Instant messaging: Lessons in pervasive computin