The only thing I see changing about IRC are the trends of those who use it.
IRC has always been considered a somewhat underground form of communication, with no TOS agreement to abide by and is more-or-less anonymous. This being so, it usually attracts people looking for something that's less than socially accepted, but it also attracts slightly more capable and intelligent users compared to other online "chats".
"Hacking, Phreaking, Warez, Cracking, Anarchy and Porn" and everything inbetween can be found on IRC... but today that trend has focused mainly on WaReZ (MP3s, Movies, etc) considering the top 50 channels are warez related. Some might blame this on mIRC's built in DCC/ FServ features which make sending files easy, but if mIRC didn't facilitate this some other program would have.
Who's to say where IRC will lead us though. Some have speculated that if webcam support were added that IRC's top 50 channels would be adult related. Perhaps if voicechat support were added, Keroaki channels would be the hot topic. Who knows.
As long as I can join #electronics or #math and get reasonably intelligent answers to my questions on a whim.
- Raccoon
