Gmail Finally adds AIM
Earlier this year there was some guessing as to when Google would make something of the slice of AOL they purchased. Nathan had a tidbit of news and a realistic idea as to what Google might be working on. The idea was to marry AOL Instant Messenger, aka AIM, into the same chat interface found in Gmail. That way Gmail users could also chat with their AIM buddies without having to sign into AIM using their external chat client.
Well, nearly a year later, two years after a joint press release said something like this would happen, that idea has become a reailty. First thing this morning when I signed into Gmail and went to set my online status to unavailable, I found a familiar icon in my list of options. The AIM icon shows up near the bottom of the menu, allowing Gmail users to sign into AIM and access their buddy list in the same Chat area of Gmail.
Once you have selected “Sign into AIM”, a small new pop window appears. Simply sign in using your AIM username and password and your buddy list will be imported into your Chat list. When you are all finished or wish to sign out of AIM, click the drop down arrow to change your status and the text changes to “Sign out of AIM”.
If a user in your Chat list is online using AIM, you will see the AIM icon to the right, and if they are using an away message you will see their status color as orange and their away message will display below if applicable. This new addition to Gmail brings Google another step closer to simplifying, yet improving the online user experience. This is useful for the user who is not on their own computer, i.e., at the library, in a computer lab or a friend’s house. It would also not require users to have the AIM client installed on their computer.
Ryan Douglas manages Paid Search and Comparison Shopping Engines for PlumberSurplus.com, an online retailer of home improvement products including Bathtubs, Sump Pumps, and Bathroom Sinks.
