I'm coming in a bit late on this discussion, perhaps, so apologies if I bring up something that's already been discussed.<br><br>I use text on my current phone extensively. SMS is a pretty minuscule part of it and I really prefer all the other protocols that are running out there. What's important to me is the ability to:
<br><br>1) support multiple protocols and multiple simultaneous messages<br>2) Receive notification of new messages (configurable for sound, flashing, and plugged into sound schemes)<br>3) switch between simultaneous message windows easily
<br><br>Most of these features are supported in Pidgin, except SMS. Probably need a bit of UI redesign to fit the format, though. Sorting users into groups is helpful, but not a priority, so long as offline users aren't competing for real estate with others. (I have ~100 or so contacts on all the protocols I run, but only a handful are online at any given time.)
<br><br>SMS is a special case, as it's a "send and forget" protocol, unlike any of the other messaging protocols (AIM, Jabber, etc.) You don't keep track of whether who you're sending messages to are online or not. You want to be able to message complete unknowns on the fly, etc. It makes sense to have a unified interface for all message protocols, but you need to have flexibility enough to accommodate the requirements of the different protocols.
<br><br>One of the issues I have with Pidgin and other message clients is the large amount of screen space that is given to group headers. I'm not sure how you'd get around that, though. I think part of the problem is that each service has their own headers and when you preserve them on a combination client, you wind up with potentially a very large number of headers.
<br><br>Christie<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/22/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Jon</b> <<a href="mailto:openmoko@snowulf.com">openmoko@snowulf.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<span class="q">On 10/22/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Bryan Copeland</b> <<a href="mailto:bcopeld@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">bcopeld@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<div><span class="q"><span class="gmail_quote"></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<span>Hey Jon sorry about the mix-up,<span><br><br>Agreed... image was huge, I have damn
Gmail to thank for making me lazy.
Basically you read me right, and I think it works for Text Messages and
Email both. "Friends" is a really broad term, surely you must be able
to group them a little further?<br><br>For example, I don't mind sharing that in my MSN List I have the following groups of friends:
<br></span></span>-Acadia (University)<br><div><div><span> -->Still There<br> -->Alumni<br>-Japan<br>-IUJ<br> -->Still There<br>
-->Alumni<br>-Moncton<br>-Halifax<br>-Out West<br>-Sony<br>-Other Contacts<span><br><br>It's
useful because sometimes two friends in different groups have the same
name, and I don't exactly memorize nicknames or handles, so it helps me
understand who a message is coming from. Personally, I also like to
keep all the groups closed until I receive messages then quickly snap
the group open and message away... presenting a better, more intuitive
view to that was my suggestion <br><br></span></span>Of course, the great thing about MSN is that its
simple to use, that's what really made it take off over other
alternatives. So the ability to present a standard flat list view is
also important. Maybe as Jon mentioned IM and Mobile Texting are best viewed as two entirely different concepts too. What does everyone think?
<br><span><span><br>Bryan</span></span></div></div></blockquote></span><div><br><br><div><br>Bryan,<span><br><br>As for instant messaging - you are correct, I have a slightly more
refined groups. I have "Goons" (which is most people), "Important"
(duh) and "Ladies" (duh). At least for me, Text Messaging and Instant
Messaging are a bit different. For example, of the 52 people in my
address book on my phone. I text message only 6 of them on any regular
basis (I mean that as little as once every 3 months). I would consider
them all important friends and wouldn't really break down the list any
more. Maybe it is because I'm not a big text'r (I only have a
200msg/mo plan). That probably explains why I don't understand the
need for "groups" in Text Messaging. I would hazard a guess that if I
was a 16 year old girl and was sending/receiving 7K text messages a
month, I'd want to know if certain people contacted me more ("Best
friends forever") more than others ("girlfriend from class"?). <br><br>Even if we don't have a graphical view, and have a "thread"
view, there is nothing wrong with the idea of grouping contacts, and
having certain groups show up top before other messages. Maybe color
coded threads? More important = Brighter colors?
<br><br>There might also be a discussion for the PIM application
itself in here, the ability to store metadata (like grouping users).
That way you can configure the "weight" (or importance) of groups.
Regardless, before we get too much into that - probably should take the
convo back into the mailing list.
</span></div><br>-Jon<br>
</div><br></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>--------------------------<br>Nothing is as damning as the lies you tell yourself.