Slack wasn't competing with IRC. By the time Slack launched, IRC usage within companies was a very tiny slice of the market, mainly by very technical people. Slack was competing with Microsoft Lync, Google Talk, HipChat, Campfire, and the various other "IM for businesses" software products that were available in 2013.
Yes, Slack borrowed some of the better features from IRC, which helped drive its popularity, but very, very few companies that are currently paying for Slack would have considered IRC to be a reasonable alternative.
Yes, Slack borrowed some of the better features from IRC, which helped drive its popularity, but very, very few companies that are currently paying for Slack would have considered IRC to be a reasonable alternative.
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