Blurring the Buddy List

News.com reports on an experimental IM client called NotesBuddy from IBM:

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NotesBuddy, which is already used extensively inside Big Blue, seeks to blur the borders between instant messaging and e-mail.

In NotesBuddy, IM dialogs are stored in e-mail in-boxes and people can search for them by subject or other classifications. The application also can automatically determine whether to send a note as a message or e-mail, depending on the present status of the recipient. Links to the company's phone system also exist.

Indeed, NotesBuddy is a project that aims to eliminate one of the major problems of IM. Namely, that it often functions like a technological island.

With popular versions of IM, "you have no connection to your business documents," said Alan Tannenbaum, a senior technical staff member at IBM whose research focuses on human-computer interaction.

Source: News.com, "IBM heeds message to integrate IM, e-mail"

The most interesting aspect of this particular application, in my opinion, is the application of presence data to real life. The NotesBuddy application is able to intelligently route messages to the most "appropriate" location. This reminds me in many ways of the Convoq ASAP product and its Lifeline and Stand-In features.

I'm also wondering when more of the news will cover technology in terms of our need for connectivity as opposed to the tools that enable it. IM is not popular because IM is the best tool ever -- it just extends our need for immediacy.