Not all cooperation and unity deals went so bad. Reuters signed an agreement in September 2003 that would allow ICQ, MSN, and AOL messengers to talk with Reuters messengers. Of course, other agreements soon followed like: Google Talk users would be able to talk to AIM users provided that they had an identity at AOL. So maybe cooperation and instant messaging is not just a dream. Maybe somewhere down the road, all instant messengers will be able to talk to each other. As much as I would love to see that happen, it more than likely never will and here is why. All companies are always looking for a way to better their selves from an agreement. If you could just sign up with one company and are able to talk with all other instant messengers, why would you ever sign up with the other companies? You would not, because there would be no need. These companies need you to sign up under them, This is how they make money in adversing. Everyone is out to make money and better their selves, this is the sad truth of the real world. Most companies would not be able to better their selves from cooperation and allowing all other people to access their network.
So, is this just a dream or could it happen? I hope that someday it could work, that it really is possible. Cooperation and friendliness between instant messaging providers would help us. Of course, if this does happen it will be a long time coming. It will take years for a company to come along and think they can make this happen. Then it will be years before they work out all the details with the other companies. Maybe on day we will see this happen, but not now. Until that day, you will have to download each instant messenger to be able to talk to everyone.