Messaging overload – hub needed

Owen Williams nails the dumb thinking in the instant messaging sector in Messaging overload.

He writes:

I remember two years ago being excited for the convergence of messaging apps; when I could use Windows Live Messenger/AIM/Skype/Google talk in one app: trillian. I remember thinking that it was exciting to have less apps, not more, to message my friends.

After all, it’s a hassle to maintain friends lists in all these different places… and you eventually have those conversations along the lines of “is it better to Snapchat you or send you a Twitter DM?”

I restrict messaging to the basics, which mainly means iMessage, Twitter and Gmail which can also mean Google Chat or Hangouts.

Sometimes incoming messages arrive from other services. As I keep notifications off so I can focus on work, there’s little instant about them. I’ve been known to find Facebook messages weeks, even months after they were sent.

And there’s the problem. Instant messaging only works when it’s instant. Simple would be nice too.

Navigating through tons of options simply doesn’t make sense. Instant messaging won’t become useful again until I can manage all the incoming channels from a single hub. That’s something the BlackBerry OS does well. I’d like to see something similar across all operating systems.