I have been using Jabber for several years. The impetus was the need to communicate with a group of people who "lived in it".
From the very beginning I am satisfied with everything. But still, one problem had to be solved and often put up with inconveniences - the blood from the nose needs to stay connected in other networks :-) ')
If you think about it, this is not a Jabber problem. But the popularity of ICQ, MSN, Yahoo is so great that someone, whether for himself, or for love of neighbor, has created transports.
I was busy with them for a year or two. I had to refuse, and use either my own clients or clients working with different networks directly. Disadvantages pays off full compatibility and stable performance.
And my question to Habradeas is:
If a person is unaware of what Jabber asks you, what is better than ICQ (MSN, Mail.ru agent, substitute your owl).What to answer?
The person asked will be scared away by the deepening of the technology (he just wants to communicate).
We (ok, so far only I) think that he will not like transports.