Crazy idea?

[pidgin at mail.iqk.com]

For years I've contemplated starting an IM service.  The idea keeps coming back to mind as all the big boys keep dropping out (or the technical equivalent of dropping out), frustrating their users (including myself).

I cannot, possibly, be the first person to have this thought, right?  Although I've never seen any such discussion here, at least from what I can find.

I would think the smartest way for such a thing to be successful would be to make it as compatible as possible with third-party software, such as Pidgin.

I don't have the programming chops to undertake this all by myself, so I'd need to hire outsource programmers.

I have some specific ideas of format and features, but before I get into all that, I'd like some general feedback; feasibility, technicalities, economics of the idea, etc.  Maybe I *am* crazy, but you never know, 'til you ask.


(Apologies, in advance, that this isn't a true support inquiry, but since, at this point, it's mostly a technical inquiry, this was the best forum I could think of.)