The September 30 release of ICQ Lite, a slimmed version of the popular instant messaging (IM) software, really caught my attention. The AOL Time Warner-owned Mirabilis appeared prone to understanding the concerns of its multimillion community. Ever since AOL acquired ICQ, the company seemed interested in complicating the existing product, adding more and more features, which people either detested or simply found inappropriate to use within the constraints of an IM program.
That is why you will probably appreciate my hideous complacency when in a matter of days ICQ Lite was able to outperform its older cousin ICQ 2002 on the top ten download list at CNET's Download.com - the world's largest and most popular software download web site.
On the other hand, ICQ Lite seems too light. In its efforts to satisfy a growing outcry for simplicity, the company produced a dull program, lacking deeply-rooted basics. However, Mirabilis deserves credit for making a step in the right direction. A step taken by many companies these days, but a step resulting from their own corporate debasement (see "
Corporate-imposed debasement," Oct. 3, 2002).
Parallel to these reshuffles in software makers' minds, the extremely popular file sharing niche has been hit by a similar discontent. Putting both the morality and the legality of the current status quo aside, companies from Free Peers, Inc. (makers of BearShare) to Sharman Networks Ltd. (creators of the Kazaa Media Desktop) have been bundling more and more advertising, and, in many cases, spyware systems within the framework of their popular products. Inevitably, computer programmers and independent groups have embraced the anti-spyware slogan, and today we are witnessing the increasing popularity of products like KaZaA Lite, which reportedly lacks all advertising and spyware systems, while preserving the operability of the original program. On top of that, ardent file sharing enthusiasts are provided with the opportunity to purchase "professional" software packages, that have third-party advertising excluded.
The industry is suffering from the very same misconceptions that have battered the global economy. Up to the year 2000, the consumer was interested in being offered more and more, and was ready to pay for it. Today, it looks like we are all cloyed. The software companies outdid their user-imposed tasks. Now it's time for them to "enlite" us.
