In the 19yrs I’ve used computers(we had a cool little Apple in 12th grade business and design class) rarely have I used IRC(Internet Relay Chat). For something that started in 1988, there has to be a reason why email, im and twitter hasn’t chased it away yet. Let’s tackle 5 points:

1. Instant Threaded conversations. Even though it gets crazy when real busy, IRC easily allows you to follow the answer to any question you post. This something twitter still can’t natively do without seesmic browser and others.

2. The ability to share large files. When Microsoft’s windows 7 beta servers chocked, I was saved via a users work IRC channel. Kevin Rose’s microblogging app could do that but where did that go?

3. Strong community. Someone gave me a bad review because I write about twitter…often, might he be an IRC user? Leo Laporte uses it along with other open source microblogging platforms. When got to his channel today late and wrong, the were still about 300 users there.

4. Real help with problems. Before @comcastcares provided A+ service on Twitter, you would go to an IRC channel for help. It wasn’t customer service, but it was help to many questions from people who went through the same thing. Having an instant messaging forum at your fingertips is very powerful…

5. Lastly, IRC isn’t occupied by the fickle mainstream or the new and shiny early adopter. It’s an ancient and sacred tech form of communication that may be the only thing still existing by the time John Connor comes to save us from the robots we created to make things easier…sorry that’s not entirely true, yet.

Posted via email from myphillynetwork’s posterous

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