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Weaning off AIM


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Weaning off AIM
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Wrao
Yarp
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
 
2004-10-25, 12:27

I am totally hooked on iChat and AIM. I have maybe 100 people on my buddy list, I talk to 3-6 regularly(like every day) I usually have iChat open nearly 24/7, it's one of the first applications I open on the computer, and one of the first things I do when I sit down.

Today, I'm going to try not opening iChat till at least 6 PM, if I manage till then, I'll probably be able to not open it at all today. If I manage that, then I should be cool....soo....what to do...what to do...

edit:Just removed it from my dock

edit2: any other AIM addicts here?

Last edited by Wrao : 2004-10-25 at 12:37.
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ast3r3x
25 chars of wasted space.
 
Join Date: May 2004
Send a message via AIM to ast3r3x  
2004-10-25, 13:08

You better believe it. Unless I'm in class or driving to/from school I'm on it. I don't always use it, but it's good to have up. I probably only talk to 3 people consistently every day, and the other 100 on my buddy list even less.

I think it's a great way to keep in touch with friends while they/you are at college.
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Wrao
Yarp
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
 
2004-10-25, 13:28

Quote:
Originally Posted by ast3r3x
I think it's a great way to keep in touch with friends while they/you are at college.

Definitely, it's also a great way to share the wonders of the internet(random videos, images, stories..etc.) with said friends.

Heck it's even a way to make friends, I chatted with some cats for a while, and when we finally met up in real life, it was as if we were old pals already.

It's not that AIM is a bad thing per se, it's just like...damn, I use it a lot.

I think, that if I can cut my AIM usage in half, my computer usage will be cut in half as well, since the majority of the time I'm aimlessly(ha!) clicking on my computer, AIM is on in the background and I'm chatting, like, the chatting is what keeps me on the computer, when otherwise I wouldn't really have much to do on it.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2004-10-25, 14:05

The key to using AIM clients is to use one that will let you keep up an away message all of the time. That way, whether you're really away or not, most people won't start up new chats with you unless you initiate contact first.

That cuts down on wasted time phenominally.

I'm hardly an AIM addict. Quite the opposite, as some people complain that I'm not around enough.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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Wrao
Yarp
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
 
2004-10-25, 14:09

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
The key to using AIM clients is to use one that will let you keep up an away message all of the time. That way, whether you're really away or not, most people won't start up new chats with you unless you initiate contact first.


There's a subliminal adium message in there somewhere, I just know it.
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2004-10-25, 14:09

Then the trick is to get an AIM client like Adium that sorts your contacts by their idle status, whether they're listed as away or not. And then I can contact LoCash, alcimedes, and Brad whenever I want.



Oh yeah, I'm really non-addicted to AIM. I don't really like going online and I generally only do so when I want to quickly ask someone a question. I associate AIM with staying on way too long and getting into big conversations that are hard to back out of politely. I pop on for a minute to ask one person a quick question, intending to immediately sign off and get back to more important things like gaming, and poof! a bunch of chat windows always come up, initiating conversations I don't want to have.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2004-10-25, 14:11

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca
Then the trick is to get an AIM client like Adium that sorts your contacts by their idle status, whether they're listed as away or not.
Or better yet, use an AIM client like Adium that allows you to set a fake idle time!

"OMG Brad's been away for 451 DAYS?! The poor bastard must've died and never had the chance to turn off his computer. "

Seriously, though, "show idle time" is the FIRST feature I turn off on every client I've ever used. No one needs to be able to track where I am that much.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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DMBand0026
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Chicago
 
2004-10-25, 16:02

Adium. It has allowed me to cut down on my AIM time quite a bit. I really only talk to 3-4 people consistently, the rest, I don't talk to much at all.

I love being able to talk with an away up, saves me so much trouble and conversations I don't want to have. The idle time thing is wonderful too. I'll never go back to iChat, till the girlfriend gets a Mac at least, than we'll do the AV thing (Not what you think :P)

Come waste your time with me
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thuh Freak
Finally broke the seal
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-10-25, 16:03

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
Seriously, though, "show idle time" is the FIRST feature I turn off on every client I've ever used. No one needs to be able to track where I am that much.
it is useful though. two people are idle w/o away messages: 10 minutes and 18h. the 10m guy probably was looking away, or taking a dump, and will respond to my inane queries. 18h guy probably has a life and forgot to turn off aim.

i keep aim open at work. i used it to coordinate smoke breaks, until i quit recently. i use it occassionally to talk with friends from college and h.s. who i dont see. sometimes to talk to people in town who aren't right next to me.

on any given day, i'll have 0-4 conversations on aim. depending on whom i speaking to, they'll be just "yo" "yo" "whats up" "nothing"... or someone asking me to write em up a program double quick, which means a long conv, broken over hrs. most of the time, if i talk to anyone on aim, its a 2 minute bullshit conversation.

at home, i dont put aim on. i never got into the habit of putting it on, which is often a good thing.
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Luca
ಠ_ರೃ
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
 
2004-10-25, 16:04

You could always delete all your AIM clients other than the official AOL Instant Messenger one. That would probably get you off of AIM pretty damn quick since it sucks so bad.
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Wrao
Yarp
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Road Warrior
 
2004-10-25, 17:17

Ya know, it's iChat's fault I use AIM at all really. I made an AIM handle like 6 years ago right, Used it once, I honestly can't tell you why I made it, So I didn't use it for 3 or 4 years, till I finally upgraded to jaguar, which came with iChat, I didn't even intend to use it really, but I happened to click on it, remembered my old AIM login, and instantly I was impressed, It was like "wow, this is awesome!, way better than AIM ever was"

It was around this time I started becoming more active in on web forums too, so that gave me an influx of people to chat with on AIM, also, since then more and more friends have found their way on it, including all my brothers and sisters, it is a good service, but it's time consuming.
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curiousuburb
Antimatter Man
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
 
2004-10-25, 18:32

As an old timer who remembers 300 baud acoustic modems connecting to the local BBS, recalls when there were less than 2000 newsgroups, and reminisces about early 'realtime' communications over chat, including audio chat in 97 or before (when most PC audio cards weren't full duplex yet)...

iChat got regular startup item status for probably the first 6 months after it came out.

Then I noticed the productivity hit.

90% of chats were frivolous (and, ironically these can demand hours at inconvenient times).
Multitasking iChat and certain games or full screen apps is a pain (particularly on my wimpy iBook500).

10% (or less) actually answered a question in a timely way.
Most of the time the person I wanted was 'Away' or offline when needed.

I might use it more if some distant PC friends used AIM instead of MSN, or we all had iSights.

I only fire it up now on chat night or to play Big Bang Chess.
My productivity seems to have gone up a bit since then. Perhaps unrelated.

My sister is a huge Friendster junkie, and that may colour my perspective somewhat.
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SledgeHammer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-10-25, 19:07

AIM (that is, Adium) is always on on my computer. I have nearly 200 contacts in my list, most of whom I never talk to, but just like to check there profiles, or some are friends back home who I keep on there basically so I don't lose their screen name. As I add more people to the list, I am constantly having to prune names that people no longer use. If I'm using a computer somewhere that doesn't have an AIM client, I use AIM express. I have 5 or 6 screen names, so my 3 names are still signed on on my computer even while I'm chatting from another. As a college student, it's a great way to keep in touch with family back home, friends at other schools, etc. Also, all of my friends at school use AIM, and are always signed on. Even if someone just has an away message up, it's a good way to find out where they are. AIM is crucial to my day to day interaction with friends and family. It let's me talk to my girlfriend who is 5 hours away without using daytime cell minutes, or while I'm at work, waiting around for something to do. I suppose you could say I'm addicted to AIM, but it's really more subtle than that.

There was a quiz a while back that told you how "addicted to AIM" you were. I haven't taken it in a while.

Edit: Found the quiz. There is also a Are you severely addicted to AIM? quiz there.
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2004-10-25, 19:51

I use AIM to keep in touch with friends who have graduated high school and are now in college. One of my good friends graduated high school two years ago, and I'll finally be able to see him again in December when we march in Rose Parade 2005. I always make it a point to the the screennames of the current seniors, so I can still talk to them.
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