Posts Tagged ‘yahoo’

Customer Spotlight: Zapier

Friday, December 16th, 2011

We are excited to feature Zapier on this week’s Tropo Customer Spotlight! Today I sat down with Wade Foster, one of the co-founders of Zapier, to discuss their business and learn more about how they are using Tropo for their Instant Messaging services.

What is Zapier?

Zapier allows you to “zap your apps!” You can build unique integrations between your favorite applications, one mouse click at a time without writing a single line of code!

  • Own Your Data: Zapier makes it easy to import and export data automagically with your favorite web apps. Don’t get locked in.
  • No Data Entry: Quit filling out the same information between different applications, and let Zapier do the heavy lifting for you.
  • Fill-in Missing Features: Never be at the mercy of vendors to build features or integrations. Use Zapier to add missing functionality.

Zapier uses Python, Django, and the Tropo Scripting API to deliver Instant Messaging services to users on AIM, GTalk, MSN, and Yahoo!

To learn more about Zapier, visit their website at http://zapier.com!

Here is a screencast of Zapier using Tropo for their Instant Messaging services:

IM usage stats: the decline of AIM

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Like many early IM users, I was a heavy user of AIM for a very long time. (I also had a 6 digit ICQ number, but the lack of friends on the network led to me abandoning it). The first IM platform I implemented on what eventually became the IM support in Tropo was AIM. AIM holds a special place in my heart.

Today’s Chart of the Day from Silicon Alley Insider (SAI) is Comscore’s metrics on the use of various IM networks. For the venerable AIM, it isn’t pretty. After years in the #1 spot, a sharp decline starting at the end of 2008 led SAI to title their graphic “The Death Of AOL Instant Messenger.”

Yahoo had a huge spike around the same time, but within 6 months declined back to around where they started. I’m not sure what caused the Yahoo spike, but a few things may have contributed. Yahoo 9.0 was released around that time, as was the Yahoo iPhone IM client.

Facebook and Google Talk aren’t represented on the chart. Comscore is unable to break the IM traffic out from Gmail and regular Facebook usage.