Aol Considering Giving Itself Away

[Bubba Bob]

Heh, I knew it'd come to this one day.

Link: Second Story

Edited July 6, 2006 by Bubba Bob

[robroy]

people are finally learning to stay away from AOhell

[bearskin]

I wouldn't take it....1994 was the last time I dealt with aol.

[Dragon]

I wouldn't take it....1994 was the last time I dealt with aol.

[JDoors]

Not having an anti-AOL stance I see this as nothing less than the smartest thing they've ever done. After all, the ONLY attraction AOL has is their proprietary content (unless you prefer the way their browser/home page looks), so why not be like every other content provider on the Internet and let everyone have access to it?

They should have done this ten years ago. It's always been dumb of them to just show their ad content to subscribers when there are millions more Internet users out there.

I wonder though, does this mean a "giant" has awoken? Their proprietary content is extensive; boards, news, music, entertainment, advice, everything. A common put-down is, "You can get everything AOL has on the Internet without using AOL!" Well, the reverse is also true, "AOL can provide everything that's available on the Internet, so watch out when they finally decide to let everyone have access to it!"

Or have they ruined their reputation beyond repair?

The one thing I specifically remember (and miss) about AOL is the excellent boards (no offence meant, maybe I'm biased as I was a moderator back then) and the availability of, well, everything.