Nostalgia for the past is inevitable, but past seems to get closer every year. So it should not come as a surprise that someone has already decided to revive the AOL Instant Messenger days of the 2000s.
The revival comes in the form of a new “interactive story”, Emily is Away, which takes place via a simulated AIM conversation with a chatbot named Emily. “Sign In again,” the story promises. “Create a screen name and choose your path through the branching narrative.”
“For me at least, AOL instant messenger is so nostalgic because I used to use it every day,” developer Kyle Seeley told Mashable. “I would come home from school, get on the computer and talk to friends for hours. Then when texting and Facebook came along, AIM was replaced and forgotten.
“Sure, AIM still exists today but it’s not like how it was, gone are the iconic Away Messages and Buddy Infos. That’s one of the main reasons I made Emily is Away, so we could all relive that slice of time again.”
Your Windows XP memory lane starts here….