AOL Instant Messenger - A Reflection

Another major piece of what helped Oasisband.net thrive in its heyday is sadly going away tomorrow. AOL Instant Messenger is shutting down forever.

We used it to communicate; it drove the word-of-mouth spread around the high school. We would never have reached the heights we did without it.

It was the literal backbone of "Oasisband.net" as a community.

Heck, our AIM usernames are still listed on our profiles on the "About Us" pages.

If not for AIM, we never would have found Joel, who provided us with free hosting for almost ten years. Who later provoked me to pursue programming and my career no less!

We all have a lot to thank AOL Instant Messenger for.

On top of everything else, our dear friend and writer Meka T. Slorne, who passed away some years back, at this very moment still shows as online thanks to never having been signed out by his "dumb-phone". I still connect to AIM, and seeing him in my buddy list every day has stood as a solemn reminder.

Today is truly a time for reflection. I'm sad to see it go.