* IRC runs its own custom protocol, which firewalls go out of their way to block.
* IRC has archaic limits like 7-bit clean text and short lines.
* IRC requires custom client software.
* IRC can't natively include binary data, images, or rich content.
* IRC can't provide transcripts without more archaic software to log in and watch channels.
* IRC's authentication support is significantly worse than that of the web.
* IRC's authorization features are limited to chankeys and +i.
It's in use on millions of websites. It's the most used groupchat protocol on the internet.
So I'm not quite sure where you get your data from.
Maybe you personally hate IRC for some reason, but to say "I can't imagine why anyone would waste time using it in 2009." Is just idiotic.
By "in use on millions of websites", I presume you're cheating by saying that any website that mentions IRC is "using" IRC.
Here's a few more.
http://www.quantcast.com/p-1as4Vqt4eFyrI/traffic/syndicators
You could probably change Mibbit to use the MibbitChat protocol and most of your users would never care.
I already layer things ontop of IRC such as typing notify, recent chat on channel join etc...
IRC is a simple, solid chat protocol. It's about as ugly and broken as HTML IMHO.
You don't get users by forcing them to use some swanky new protocol/system off the bat. That's a recipe for quick failure.
You know, I made the same mistake in 1998; we started (and got funded) a company that basically took IRC and:
* Added arbitrary TLV encoded data to messages
* Used link state routing to solve the netsplit problem
* Used FEC to provide reliability over the resulting mesh network
But even though you've kept current on IRC and I wrote it off a long time ago, I'm pretty sure I can still win an argument that IRC is archaic and ready to go.
Those problems you 'solved' are not problems any user cares about though. They want IRC to be easy, and usable as a webchat.
But the world certainly wants to be able to upload files and images into group chats. No user cares about IRC; they want group chat to be easy as using a website.
I assume your startup failed. Perhaps that's tainted your view a tad.
You are the opposite of right; IRC is dying, and will be replaced with web chat systems with backend protocols nobody thinks about.
Why would I count page views? Counting profit is much more fun.
I think you'll see an explosion in online webchat this year and next, and IRC will be one of the clear winners. I don't like the protocol, it's a complete mess to be honest, but that's what'll happen.
So, I think along with "time" and "expertise", you should also add "tolerance for needless pain".
You know, last time I checked, the BSD devs were still using icb. Maybe Campfire is also for the people without the time or expertise to set up icb. =)