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SOMETIMES e-mail can seem a little slow. You write it, send it and wait until the recipient gets round to checking their mailbox, and even longer for them to respond. And you don't have any way of knowing whether they have logged on to the internet at all.
The solution is a little program called an instant messenger. The concept is simple. You create a directory of people who you want to talk to, usually known as a "buddy list". When any one of them is online you can chat to them instantly.
The program can run quietly in the background while you surf the web until somebody wants to send you a message. It can be a great distraction although, as we will see later, it also has some very practical applications and is one of the best arguments for flat- rate internet services which dispense with metered phone-call charges.
The original idea for an instant messaging service came from a group of young Israelis in 1996. The program they developed is still far and away the most popular on the net, although...