There is only one reason that IRC is waning and that is because people have tried it, used it, then moved on to another hobby. IRC has been around for a long time. It will, for a long time to come attract new and curious visitors. Both you and myself have used it for a long time. 5 years or more is a long time to regularly spend typing messages to others when you or I could be doing other things and perhaps enjoying it more.
THe debate about whether IRC is expanding or contracting will go on, though I, like you, believe that IRC is in an overall state of decline. As more networks show some leadership towards filetrading of illegal software it will decline further, and perhaps return to it's original primary purpose, that being a means of interpersonal communication.
Is IRC lame? I don't think so, but there are people that do. It's just a personal opinion and can never be associated with any facts. It's no different to motor racing, cricket or playing snooker. Some argue that stock car racing sucks because the act of driving around in a circle for two hours lends belief that the activity has few challenges, yet others think that 40 cars being involved in one accident at 250km/h is great. What about the cricket. Steve Waugh (the greatest and most respected captain since Sir Donald Bradman, and some say of all time) is retiring. Some people are heart-broken about it and will blubber themselves into a stuper for the whole five days of play at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Others will say "who the hell wants to see another overpaid sportsman swing 1.2kg's of English Willow over 5 days while eating cucumber sandwiches and sipping on overpriced champagne?" Then there's snooker which is a gentleman's version of pub pool and there's two sides to which of the two is better as well.
Is IRC over-regulated? Some say it is and they may have compelling evidence but at the end of the day who cares? IRC is a free service (in most cases) and at the end of the day you are connecting to someone else's computer and therefore are subject to their right to run that machine their way. It's no different to someone walking into your front garden. You'd want them to walk along the footpath instead of over all the new rose bushes you just planted. In other words you would want visitors to respect your way of doing things while they are on your land. The same principle applies to computers, public transport and the supermarket too.
I don't think integration between MemoServ and e-mail is going to inprove things for IRC. Infact what you are suggesting just gives people more reason not to log in. Outlook is far easier to use than mIRC in that someone inclined not to use IRC except as a way of shifting/receiving messages is already going to be using Outlook or webmail anyway. They will just say "Great! I can get memos via email so I can erase mIRC and just use Outlook."
There are three things that have caused great damage to IRC over time.
1. There are too many arseholes that have access to computers these days. The era of cheap hardware and user-friendly software means that anyone can use a computer, regardless of your OS preference. This means that all types of people are going to be computer users. You get fools on the roads because drivers licences are virtually given out by governments. Computer usage is even less regulated so the situation is, naturally, worse. Unless one are ordered by a magistrate to refrain from connecting to the 'Net there is nothing that can really stop them.
2. There is no real way of effectively policing computer related crimes. Wares, porn and bulk un-solicited e-mail is the work of the devil, yet it is something we all have to tolerate for the time-being. All these things are offences, and in some cases serious criminal offences, yet because of a lack of evidence and inability to trace these things, it's not going to go away quickly.
3. The computer industry (generally speaking, and in saying this I am not trying to offend anyone) is the most narcisisstic profession in existance. Some (maybe most) see a career in computer construction, software development, web development, etc as rewarding and satisfying, and most importantly it does give people their daily bread. However there is this lingering "I am elite" and other terms of self admiration that give the industry a black X. I am not one to tar people with the same brush but I do feel that the last statement has some relevance here. I have been working in the building and engineering industry for 15 years and I have never once heard anyone say "I am an elite electrician, plumber, gyprocker, painter, draughtsman, inspector", etc etc etc. As I said, what I highlighted certainly doesn't apply to all computer related workers but the stereotype is a pretty strong one none-the-less. Where does this relate to IRC? Good question. It's the good old copycat syndrome and bored kiddies who are either wagging school or have left school and cant be bothered finding work are sitting on their khybers playing with computers and telling the world that they are l337. If that isn't bad enough we get them trying to prove it and what better way of doing that than causing disruptions to IRC services. This is pretty waring because the attempts are usually short-lived and do little more than to demonstrate that, as I said before, there are fools using computers and access to computers is too easy. When chatrooms are disrupted the chatters get quite upset about it and I cannot say I blame them. They are just there minding their own business and have their time spoilt by idiots with nothing better to do than to prove that age-old annoyances are easy to achieve. Consequently, there is little value in using an IRC service.
That concludes my response. Now... I was down your way the other day on a visit to Adelaide and other parts of SA and found that after eating several hamburgers from various places that none of them had any onion. Any particular reason why?
