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ICQ will stop working from June 26

icq.com

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Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#481

Post by RajT88 »

dkga wrote: post #470

I will forever treasure my ICQ memories. The sounds it made. The moving image when it was connecting. Listening in Winamp to one of only a few dozen possible songs that I had carefully downloaded. Being able to randomly connect to people you would filter. Yes, I want to talk to someone more or less my age but in Iceland. Or any other country. But most of all, the feeling of being connected. As a teenager in the autis…

First thought: I had assumed ICQ was long dead. It seemed impossible anything from that era could still be running. IRC is of course, through the grace of an ecosystem, but it is a tiny fraction of what it was.

Second thought: how do people randomly connect to talk now? Comments sections mostly? I have long ago stopped seeking new connections of any variety.

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#482

Post by necovek »

jraph wrote: post #456
nogridbag wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still feel bad I left my parents' computer online all night to download a .wav (?) audio file of Mario jumping from Nintendo.com. Back then, the closest most kids got to Nintendo was via video game magazines. So going to Nintendo.com for the first time and downloading an audio file was a special moment. The download was taking hours and I have no idea how much it cost my parents. I just remember being so disappoint…

Wait, it didn't take an entire night to download a 1 sec wav (assuming the worst) file, did it? 1 sec of wav would be 176.4 kB (assuming 44.1 kHz, 16 bits, stereo), or 176.4 * 1024 * 8 bits. That divided by 28800 bits/s (assuming a 28k modem) gives 50.1 seconds. A 96 kHz 32 bit stereo wav would be 768 kB, 4-5 times that so still less than 5 minutes. What am I missing?

Public internet access did coincide with appearance of 14.4kbit/s modems here (Serbia) yet 9600 "baud" was actually more common, but you still rarely got that speed out of them.

Still, I don't ever remember needing hours to download a tiny wav file (though I mostly looked for MIDI music as that was long songs in a few kb).

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#483

Post by entrep »

larodi wrote: post #116
jedberg wrote: post #14

This makes me sad. I mean, I haven't logged in in about 20 years now, and couldn't if I wanted to (don't have the password or access to the email address). But I had a low five digit user number, and built a lot of relationships on ICQ (some of which continue today!). It was my main method of electronic communication in college. I had romantic relationships live and die on ICQ. Another reminder of how things change o…

4125222 I still remember it but not the pass

25866259, seems deleted though

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#484

Post by tibbon »

ssfrr wrote: post #45

1303789 Serious question - why do so many people remember our ICQ numbers? I don’t remember what user-facing function it served. Was that actually the identifier we shared with people to connect? I suppose it also came at a time for a lot of us where things seemed to wedge into our brains more easily.

389360!

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#485

Post by KC1LQM »

1307615

I used to have a 6 digit too, but lost it long ago. ICQ was an important part of my youth. ICQ and AOL Chatrooms were the earliest places where I learned I could find groups to talk with about similar interests.

Farewell ICQ, thanks for the good times.

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#486

Post by asddubs »

RajT88 wrote: post #481
dkga wrote: post #470

I will forever treasure my ICQ memories. The sounds it made. The moving image when it was connecting. Listening in Winamp to one of only a few dozen possible songs that I had carefully downloaded. Being able to randomly connect to people you would filter. Yes, I want to talk to someone more or less my age but in Iceland. Or any other country. But most of all, the feeling of being connected. As a teenager in the autis…

First thought: I had assumed ICQ was long dead. It seemed impossible anything from that era could still be running. IRC is of course, through the grace of an ecosystem, but it is a tiny fraction of what it was. Second thought: how do people randomly connect to talk now? Comments sections mostly? I have long ago stopped seeking new connections of any variety.

discord servers

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#488

Post by aspectmin »

ssfrr wrote: post #45

1303789 Serious question - why do so many people remember our ICQ numbers? I don’t remember what user-facing function it served. Was that actually the identifier we shared with people to connect? I suppose it also came at a time for a lot of us where things seemed to wedge into our brains more easily.

Oh wow... I still remember my old ICQ number (very low 100Ks). Basically lived on it for many years.

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#489

Post by anakaine »

RajT88 wrote: post #481
dkga wrote: post #470

I will forever treasure my ICQ memories. The sounds it made. The moving image when it was connecting. Listening in Winamp to one of only a few dozen possible songs that I had carefully downloaded. Being able to randomly connect to people you would filter. Yes, I want to talk to someone more or less my age but in Iceland. Or any other country. But most of all, the feeling of being connected. As a teenager in the autis…

First thought: I had assumed ICQ was long dead. It seemed impossible anything from that era could still be running. IRC is of course, through the grace of an ecosystem, but it is a tiny fraction of what it was. Second thought: how do people randomly connect to talk now? Comments sections mostly? I have long ago stopped seeking new connections of any variety.

The random.connection thing: post comments on Reddit. I'd suggest discord, too, but its not quite the same as ICQ was in terms.of random connections.

Re: ICQ will stop working from June 26

#490

Post by [deleted] »

101008 wrote: post #453
Karrot_Kream wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just don't take your phone out? I always read these threads and think that the folks here probably have issues disconnecting and so they're longing for a world where social pressures forced disconnection. I still frequently don't check my socials until after work or after a long social activity. I'm upfront with my contacts about that too, and most of my friends are like me. I only monitor my phone constantly if I…

I am not complaining about myself, but how society behaves. Yes I can do it, but it doesn't mean the rest will follow me.

[deleted]
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