single Messages app for OS X Mountain Lion
onwards. This latest app, which remains a staple
of the Apple ecosystem to this day, brings users
the convenience of being able to send unlimited
messages to almost any Apple product.
Another landmark development in the history of
instant messaging occurred in 2003, when Skype
was launched. This service enabled Internet users
to communicate with each other via video, voice
and instant messaging, reflecting a continuing
blurring of the lines between instant messaging
and other communication functionalities. We
were truly entering an age in which more and
more of us were becoming accustomed to
easy and instant contact with others, for both
personal and business purposes.
THE 2010S: AN ERA OF SUSTAINED
INNOVATION, BUT ALSO SECURITY
AND PRIVACY CONCERNS
The later 2000s and early 2010s continued to see
instant messaging evolve beyond the juvenile
activity that it might have seemed to be back in
the days when MSN and AIM were competing
for supremacy. In February 2009, the month
after Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first
ever African American President of the United
States, WhatsApp gained its initial release,
signaling the commencement of a new era
in which upstarts would play as big a role in
shaping instant-messaging technology as the
more established ‘big players’.
The major attraction of WhatsApp was the
ability it gave users to send texts, pictures, video
and audio to others for free, a significant boon
at a time when many people were increasingly