Maybe for some people it has gone unnoticed, but for more than a couple of decades there has been a messenger service called ICQwhich was released by an Israeli company named Mirabilis in 1996, which became a mass phenomenon among a certain community. And it has even managed to be neck and neck with MSN, but unfortunately there has been negative news about the latter, as it will close the servers in the coming days to the misfortune of users.
Closing will take place on June 26th of this year and it is worth saying that it reached its peak in the late 90s and early 2000s, with more than 100 million users. But, the rise of competing platforms such as AIM, MSN Messenger and then the appearance of Facebook It ended up being his downfall. In 2010, the Russian technology company Mail.ru Group acquired ICQ. And despite attempts to revitalize it with new features and mobile versions, it failed to regain its former popularity.
Here is a more in-depth description of this system:
ICQ Messenger is one of the first instant messaging programs that became popular worldwide. ICQ was launched in November 1996 by the Israeli company Mirabilis. In 1998, Mirabilis was acquired by AOL (America Online). ICQ was later acquired by Mail.ru Group (now VK) in 2010.
The name ICQ is a play on words that sounds like “I seek you,” reflecting its function of facilitating communication and connection between users. ICQ pioneered many of the features that are considered standard in today’s messaging apps, such as the contact list, presence notifications, alert sounds, and status options. Its popularity helped establish instant messaging as a fundamental form of online communication.
Although ICQ was extremely popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, its use declined with the emergence of new competitors and more advanced messaging platforms, such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and more recently, mobile applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram.
Despite VK offers other alternatives, people will miss ICQ.
Via: Aseannow
Author’s note: Many of these services have been closing over the years, and when the same thing happens with WhatsApp it will be a little strange, since there is nothing more comfortable in terms of chats and communication. However, it will happen, so we should be used to renewals by now.
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