The worst thing about IM is that it is harder to store/record - that's the big issue.
well maybe this is what is wanted, so it is for the best not for the worst. With the rise of GDPR and similar laws, one really wants the message be there only of a limited amount of time and, some IM allow you to delete the message from your device and from others.
But with end to end encryption already in the apps, storage is probably an easier problem to solve than encryption in all emails. I am sure the new generation of young guns will solve that.
the point here is that email is a complete protocol working with exchange between different providers by design , but was designed without encryption at first.
On the opposite you have IM, as old as email, but usually does not allow to change from one network to another.
When MSN died you lost a bunch of your contacts, you then had to follow them on different new IM network.
Everyone of them have some good point and some bad. But still you need to connect to a bunch of them to be bale to reach all your contacts.
@ Stefano,
How many IM Apps do you have on your phone ? How many were there 5 years ago ? How many will still be here in 5 years ?
How many email client on your device?
Then start asking yourself why would one rather send an email or rather send an IM ?
Currently we are all minded to get what we want now. IM is toward this "instant" feature.
There was a time people were on the trigger to answer to emails, then a lot of productivity courses started to ask people to avoid to do so, as it can turn your day in a constant exchange without any productivity at the end.
IM become the window for those who try to get fast answer after your close the door of email ... if you let the window open. I am pretty sure that in the next years the same recommendations will rise for IM, and its use will settle.
There is definitively a place for those two way to communicate. As there is for regular mail. OF course we send and receive a lot less mail than in 1990, but there are still post offices in 2018!