ICQ
The pioneering instant messenger with the green-flower icon, the random UIN number, and the unmistakable "Uh oh!" message alert. Launched in 1996, ICQ basically invented consumer IM before AIM and MSN took over.
#Instant Messaging
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T-Mobile Sidekick
The swivel QWERTY phone that made AIM mobile before smartphones existed. The Sidekick was the texting status symbol — if you had one, you were cool.
Xfire
The little black friends list that knew what game everyone was playing, let you message them from inside a full-screen match and join their server with a click. It launched in January 2004, hit 7 million users by 2007, was sold to MTV for $102 million and shut down in 2015, the same year Discord appeared to do the same job.