Not that it had the same impact, but WhatsApp is also based on XMPP and for a while you could use a standard XMPP client with a small authentication modification. Similarly, they chose never to federate in favour of a walled garden. It’s a disappointing bastardisation of an open standard.
I think protocols are great starting blocks but people, outside of techies, don’t care about protocols as long as they work and support features they want. You need to be first to the punch on a great overall product with a UX anyone could use. XMPP had Pidgin and Jitsi, neither of which any of my non-techie friends would even touch.
It’s a fine protocol, but it didn’t deliver anything more than a protocol so let for-profit organisations decide how it’s actually used. There are some nice looking clients now but the battle was lost a decade ago.
Not that it had the same impact, but WhatsApp is also based on XMPP and for a while you could use a standard XMPP client with a small authentication modification. Similarly, they chose never to federate in favour of a walled garden. It’s a disappointing bastardisation of an open standard.
I think protocols are great starting blocks but people, outside of techies, don’t care about protocols as long as they work and support features they want. You need to be first to the punch on a great overall product with a UX anyone could use. XMPP had Pidgin and Jitsi, neither of which any of my non-techie friends would even touch.
It’s a fine protocol, but it didn’t deliver anything more than a protocol so let for-profit organisations decide how it’s actually used. There are some nice looking clients now but the battle was lost a decade ago.
What is dead can never die :) XMPP works fine and I think it still has quite some future.
agreed, xmpp is quick and simple. I love matrix but i prefer xmpp for quick texting