Ben, are you aware that Jabber has a Java applet client? You
don't *have* to download a fancy client-side application in order
to use it, but it is available if you want it.
My basic problem is that the chat app that I've seen is unusable
as-is. I can't imagine using it regularly.
Chat is a fairly complicated thing to do right. I'm happy to
piggyback on the work of a team that's dedicated to solving the
chat problem as long as it doesn't cost too much to do it. If your
main objection to the Jabber solution is the client download,
then I don't think we have a big problem here.
