What is aim & how does it work?

But AIM was the beginning of something, a gateway to real-time, all-the-time internet communication for the normies. You didn’t need to be a computer nerd to ride the AIM train. Your parents got the compact disc in the mail, you plugged your clear plastic corded phone into a modem connected to your Gateway 2000, and you were off.

Is aim free?

At its peak, AOL was responsible for up to half of all CD-ROMs produced, giving users unlimited internet access for $20 a month. But unlike AOL’s core services—which were only available for a fee—AIM was available as a free standalone app and open source code.

What happened to aim?

As Americans embraced instant messaging at the office and at home, AIM was the site of everything from mundane work chats to teenagers’ daring romantic confessions. But those highs were followed by a dot com crash that caused years of repeated layoffs until only a skeleton crew of support staff remained.

How many people use aim?

AIM exploded beyond its creators’ wildest expectations, drawing 61 million users by 2000. By the mid-2000s, AIM commanded 52 percent of the total instant messaging market in North America. Alongside the bankers and media workers who used AIM during the work day, teenagers quickly became a core part of AIM’s user base.