[ianremsen]

My point was that the 'average' computer user is easily bewildered by many things, and using an IRC client isn't especially difficult compared to them. Using a link to a ready-made config for a web IRC client is easy and relatively painless and doesn't require any additional magical insight and fairy dust by a group of Silicon Valley dreamers. The use cases for Slack is arguable an Euler diagram circle exactly on top of those for IRC, a slightly different one than those for FB Messenger or Skype. Slack is redundant/bloated because of IRC, Messenger isn't.

[jen729w]

Yeah I just think - and this is just off the top of my head, I have nothing but anecdote to back it up - that as soon as you reach that certain level of "config", their eyes glaze over. That level seems to be when you start talking server names.

People just don't understand what that is, let alone how to actually use it. But everyone seems to be able to figure out how to sign in to an app with nothing but their email address and the same password they use for everything else, and so there the line is drawn.

Again, nothing but conjecture. It's just something I've come to realise over the years. (FWIW, I hate Skype etc. Horrible! But, I understand why Jane Public uses it.)