From 1996-1999, our team at Austin startup Activerse pursued a IM product strategy based on the idea that this crucial internet application space, like email before it, must eventually be ruled by decentralized, interoperable, standards-based products. We demoed interoperabilty with prototype software from Microsoft, Lotus, Fujitsu, Ubique, and AT&T using a HTTP-inspired, REST-ish toy protocol called PIP-DEMO. We helped author the IETF's Instant Messaging / Presence Protocol Requirements (RFC 2779), a key source document for the many attempts at standardization that followed, including the XMPP IM/Presence specification.

But "eventually" wasn't soon enough for tiny Activerse -- with the giant players like AOL, Yahoo, and Microsoft more-or-less happy with owning their own giant closed IM networks.

Google might just survive the wait!

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