 
Vamp
5c077
Premium
join:2003-01-28
MD | Good... I can't wait for their demise.  | |
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X_Digit
Binary Enhanced
Premium
join:2003-06-12
Mansfield, TX | Re: Good... I can't believe they've made it THIS long... and, I'm with you on that wagon.
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Respectfully, X_Digit | |
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| | attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA | Re: Good... aol and msn are both buffoon. never mind their ironic. oh yea they are just dialup losers. | |
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| | | ibpitcher2
join:2003-10-29
New York, NY | Re: Good... English is a powerful language... :/ might help to learn it | |
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wha66
@rogers.com | Re: Good... i understood what he said, and he made a good point. | |
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| ub355
join:2005-09-15
Brookfield, WI | Aol was handy at it's inception. It was one of the first national providers which meant that when my daugher moved after college she could share my account without cost. | |
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| whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
 ·AT&T Southwest
2 edits | The FASTEST WAY for a company to lower its price is for customers to avoid it. but I CANNOT understand-aol employees or stockholder-WHY would someone pay that kind of $$ for dialup service,when you could get DSL package & faster speeds at a lower price,*¿ô
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I try to be friends with everyone,wary of a few,
& will always be an enemy to some reguardless of what we do
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Neil
Stop All The Downloadin
join:2003-08-20
New York, NY
| Re: Just wonder AOL recently raised the price of their dial-up service to $26 in an effort to drive those customers toward the co-branded incumbent offerings.
That's the answer to your question. They're hoping people will switch to their more economically sensible DSL offerings.
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The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, which is, incidentally, Cyberonic, in case you were wondering. | |
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fartness
Computersoc Dot Com
Premium
join:2003-03-25
Look Outside
clubs: | Re: Just wonder I can get $18/month 768/128 DSL from Verizon instead. How does AOL win? | |
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| | | | whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
·AT&T Southwest
| Re: Just wonder said by fartness  :I can get $18/month 768/128 DSL from Verizon instead. How does AOL win? simply, AOL (employee/customer service, as a lot of other companies,especiall those that are over seas, simple think thin the general public is to stupid or to lazy to shop around for the best deal, on anything especially something asan isp, since most people are useing wireless phones now full time,
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I try to be friends with everyone,wary of a few,& will always be an enemy to some reguardless of what we do | |
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fartness
Computersoc Dot Com
Premium
join:2003-03-25
Look Outside
clubs: | Re: Just wonder I don't believe that to be the case... | |
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axess_denied
join:2004-07-23
Long Beach, CA | Glad I don't hold stock in AOL Gotta say - jacking up prices on your primary money making product with the objective of driving customers to a product you don't even offer yourself is a real stroke of brilliance!!! I guess they intend to be a content only company. | |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs: | Re: Glad I don't hold stock in AOL I only hope that one day I am valuable enough (or have enough dirt on) the company I work for that I can still hold my job after losing 3 million customers a year.  | |
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| | wombough
join:2001-08-30
Beaufort, SC | Re: You've got mail, but its not from AOL they do. RR offers free AOL accounts included in its service if you like to. However tehy can't even give me aol for free. They can keep it. | |
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| Dreidle5
join:2006-05-04
Dayton, OH
| said by OldSchoolDSL :
Netzero & even Netscape (own by AOL) offer dial-up for 9.95 and there are some who even now offer for less.
Is it TRUELY $9.95 though?
If you take a glimpse at the T.O.S you'll see this little line: In addition to standard subscription fees, taxes, regulatory fees, or additional services such as international usage may be included in charges. | |
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| | | Dreidle5
join:2006-05-04
Dayton, OH | Re: You've got mail, but its not from AOL Nahhh. I'm not that dumb!  ~ | |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
Albany, NY
| 3 million down, 18.6 million left Apparently, they still have 18.6 million subscribers left (in the US at least, don't know how many outside of the US). According to ISP Planet they're still the largest ISP in the US ( »www.isp-planet.com/research/rank···usa.html ). However, if they continue to lose subscribers at this rate, they won't be the biggest ISP for long. (I give it three years before we hear the news that AOL is no longer the US's largest subscriber.)
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-Jason Levine
My Gallery | Jason's Toolbox | PCQandA.com | URateit.com | |
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LiamJunket
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Ocean City, NJ
 ·Comcast
|  Re: 3 million down, 18.6 million left
said by Jason Levine :Apparently, they still have 18.6 million subscribers left (in the US at least, don't know how many outside of the US). According to ISP Planet they're still the largest ISP in the US ( » www.isp-planet.com/research/rank···usa.html ). However, if they continue to lose subscribers at this rate, they won't be the biggest ISP for long. (I give it three years before we hear the news that AOL is no longer the US's largest subscriber.) AOL will milk the dial-up customers for as much money as they can for as long as they can. They will retain millions of customers for many years to come. This allows them a lot of time to switch the focus of their business to something else. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have an inkling of what they can move into as an ongoing business. Everything they are doing is merely "ME-TOO" enterprises.
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Join Red Room Forum
BLOG tkjunkmail.blogspot.com
My Web Page | |
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cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27
Newtown, PA
| Re: 3 million down, 18.6 million left I still find folks unaware they can BYOC (Bring your own connection) and get lower priced AOL until they can migrate all their email contacts that they've a new email address with another ISP.
Most larger ISPs offer 800# dialup for extra for travelers and if you can use a browser, you can login about anywhere.
AOL doesn't offer anything new or unique; just the marketing that you think they do.
[I did like collecting those tins...farewell AOL pollution...fare thee well!] | |
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Mospaw
I'm Vap-O-riffic
Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-08
Las Vegas, NV
·Cox HSI
·Embarq
Host:
Road Warriors, Not..
All Things Macintosh
Automotive
1 edit | Slow Acting is as Slow Acting Does... If AOL wants out of the dwindling dial-up market, they should simply pull the plug. Sure, it's easy to pick on AOL for being the Internet on training wheels, but a lot of people got their first Internet experience on AOL. Like it or not, AOL is responsible for a good amount of the early success of the Internet.
What I can't believe is that despite years of people moving away from dial-up, that they haven't been able to really make a go at doing something else. Sure, lots of people will never, ever use AOL for a variety of reasons, but even discounting those non-users, you'd think the company would try to maintain some sort of business.
How can such a large company simply let their business slip away and (apparently) do very little to stem the tide? | |
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| VikingStorm
join:2002-06-25
Omaha, NE
| Re: Slow Acting is as Slow Acting Does... Think about what you just said. If they want out of the "dwindling" dial-up market, you think they should just stop all service? Hell, even bleeding all these customers, they are still turning a profit.
I don't think you have been paying attention to what AOL is doing. They are going toward content heavily. Everything is pointed that way. They even let you keep your aol e-mail when you cancel. That is the sign that they don't care about being an ISP anymore. So why not pull the plug on the dial-up service? Oh, I don't know, it's still raking in the money, that's why. They won't pull the plug until they start losing money. | |
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Mospaw
I'm Vap-O-riffic
Premium,Mod
join:2001-01-08
Las Vegas, NV
·Cox HSI
·Embarq
Host:
Road Warriors, Not..
All Things Macintosh
Automotive
| Re: Slow Acting is as Slow Acting Does... You're 100% correct. Thank you for pointing that out. I guess despite themselves, they're still making money on dial-up. And you're also right in that I really don't pay attention to AOL. Since I stopped being an AOL customer about 10 years ago, they have remained largely irrelevant to me.
And if they're making money still, then they can go at it any way they want. I just don't see how losing 800,000 customers is helpful in any way. | |
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Acez234
@comcast.net | They are making billions every year on dialup right now. (With a B, not M). Pull the plug? Man figure it out.... | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| AOL... ... does have one item I like{SHUDDER}, In2TV.
Full On TV show downloads. I just wish they would add more shows/episodes to their list.
»television.aol.com/in2tv
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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Vamp
5c077
Premium
join:2003-01-28
MD
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Re: AOL... Yeah but you don't need AOHELL to use that, so what is the point of their service in the first place.
AOL is just stupid for waiting this long and not doing anything, they just keep them self stuck in the past. If they were smart they would change the pricing to $10 to compete with other dialup, make the bring your own access free with ads or $5 without ads. And clean up the software and make it easier for noobs to connect without it (to show them AOL ISN'T the internet  ).
But they wont do any of that, they will still be offering overpriced dialup 10 years from now when most people are on 20+ mbps connections... That is if AOL is still around then. | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| Re: AOL... Most of what AOL provides, they are also offering for free!
I went through hell trying to point that out to a friend of the family who was getting raped for AOL dialup.
She was worried about her email/contacts... I showed her that she could access it all from my Comcast connection.
Ah well, sheeple will be sheeple. 
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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Ammler
Premium
join:2005-04-19
Pittsburgh, PA | Never I will never use AOL as a portal or a homepage. Never. | |
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| attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA
| Re: Never said by Ammler :I will never use AOL as a portal or a homepage. Never. www.anandtech.com or forums.anandtech.com are made up of intelligent user most of them hate aol or aol user. They do not allow aol email account. Dealing with aol user is like dealing with AIDS. I do not blame them for banning aol user. The less of them that exist today the better.
AOL = noobs who only knows how to turn on their computer and know nothing else.
This is true and is not a sarcasm fyi. | |
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| | man00
join:2003-07-25
74986 | Re: Never And saying that what does that make you? Some folks are still stuck with dialup and AOL the only show in town. Don't be so quick to judge everyone. Some may take you as a Biggit | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| NetZero is a Nation Wide dialup ISP! AOL is *NOT* the only thing out there.
If you WANT AOL, you can get it(boy will you "get it"). If you are smart, you can get dialup access for alot less! ANYWHERE!
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| A AOL dialup user in NYC (come on, DSL is everywhere I think, cable too) will in 2-4 years be using public library or internet cafe computers since their home computer is a doorstop (spyware or stupidity make it not boot) and exists so they can say "yes" to "do you have a computer at home?". Computers should have a "restore to factory defaults" button next to the power and only be allowed to install encryption signed microsoft software with a usb setting key of a few megabytes and their browser favrites. Email is handled on secured servers. If not they are 0vv/\/3[) in 3 months. Idiocy and illogic dont end. Bonzi buddy is the cutest thing ever to them. and they reinstall it after I get it off because they "miss" him. Repeatedly they get the same spyware by the same con-artist ads and websites using the same mental hooks. If this was real life AOLers would be happy being plantation slaves, they dont have the intelligence to realize digging fields all day is boring and reptative and straining. All the ringtone ads, im surprised there isnt cellphone spyware yet. Thank god some control freak carriers (verizon wireless) dont allow outside apps. I can see spam relays secretly running in the background of cellphones. YOu should need to pass a test to get full access to a computer. | |
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chakey
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Gladstone, NJ
clubs: | Not surprised I bet they would be losing subscribers more quickly if it didn't take 3 months and 10 phone calls to India to cancel your account! | |
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Fluker
join:2005-04-07
West Lafayette, IN | Re: Not surprised I always tell people that if they want to dump that massive charge on their visa, all they have to do is claim to no longer own a computer.
no accent smothered rebuttal can defuse that argument. | |
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chakey
Premium
join:2004-06-14
Gladstone, NJ
clubs: | Re: Not surprised Fantastic! | |
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bwalker25
join:2005-12-20
Durham, NC
| Nope I have to agree with everyone, AOL SUCKS! The days of dial-up is long gone for me. When AOL had the text based RPG's like FED and all that, I really enjoyed it, but that was like 10 years ago.
IF they need help pulling the plug on there crappy service I am sure that alot of us here can help them turn off the switch!
good bye and so long! | |
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squashpile
join:2001-06-13
Birmingham, AL | Hmm They just need to send out some more CD's. | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| Re: Hmm said by squashpile :They just need to send out some more CD's. in those nice dvd cases too.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
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Derch
Premium
join:2004-10-16
Tulsa, OK | Re: Hmm I knew a guy in College that would collect AOL CD's and glue them everywhere in his dorm room. | |
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| | phaqu
join:2005-05-26
Marietta, GA
·Comcast
| said by dvd536 :said by squashpile :They just need to send out some more CD's. in those nice dvd cases too. Hell yeah, free cases and free beer coasters. If only the sleeve insert was as soft as toilet paper...... | |
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| attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA
| said by squashpile :They just need to send out some more CD's. tHAT IS SO VERY true. tHEY NEED TO sENd OUT aT LEAST A bILLION TO CHINA!China man would love dialup since most of them aren't even connected to the internet. Oh the pain!
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Plexxxy
join:2003-02-02
West Palm Beach, FL
| Bleh About the only thing I ever liked about AOL was how many suckers populated the service. Used to hang out at a friends house whose parents subscribed to the service, where we'd spend hours phishing for accounts, perusing other peoples emails, and flooding adult-topic chat rooms (this was ohh around '96).
As an ISP, I've never understood what people found so 'great' about it. Busy lines, slow speeds (even for dialup), hangups for idling, overpriced, and a client loaded with advertisements are hardly appealing features :S | |
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| attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA
| Re: Bleh Is dinosaur my friend. Fvck AOL. Yes Fvck them. Either get with the time or be put out of business by incompetance or ineptness. SBC-ATT will gouffle up everything including Bellsouth, verizon, Qwest in the near future. If walmart is successful so is SBC/ATT I think they are owned by gifted people, lowering price to get more to join the bandwagon and putting competition out of business.
Awesome tactics... EITHER get with the time OR GET OUTTA HERE.
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Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:
| It never ceases to amaze me how misinformed so many "broadband" users are about AOL.
Contrary to whatever you might want to believe, AOL hasn't kept almost 19 million users on board simply because they're stupid newbies.
Believe it or not, some people might actually LIKE AOL and the service they provide and find it to be a good overall value.
I for one like their news, email setup, chat (which is far superior to AIM IMHO), Radio AOL with XM, and, as another user above noted, their video offerings.
These things all have value to me above and beyond their just being a dialup ISP, for which I have no use.
But, it doesn't stop there either...because they have now what I would consider to be a very good broadband offering.
They've partnered with most or all of the telcos and combined with TW, now have a very large reach into the broadband market. For approx 26.00 a month to 30.00 a month..depending on the connection..many people can have AOL PLUS HSI.
One user above asked why RR doesn't include AOL. The short answer is..now it does thru AOL's program...just packaged under a different name.
Perhaps AOL did get off guard or never planned on the net becoming what it is today in terms of the amount of companies out there offering ISP services and particularly the speeds which would be offered. I mean, it would be tough for Perdue if the whole world decided that chicken wasn't what they wanted anymore.
But I do think you have to give AOL credit for having been the worlds largest DIAL UP ISP and having managed to sustain themselves even this far not having owned most of the broadband pipes into the nations homes.
That probably would have spelled instant disaster for any other business.
But..they have sustained themselves and continue to have almost 19 million customers. I personally think only a fool would count out a player like that.
And, they've sustained themselves for many reasons, some of which certainly are some of their customers haven't yet moved away from them and probably will. But others like them for what they are, and their content..and find it to be a value added service.
I think the real issue is for them to find that right price point and properly price their service for many broadband users who would use them as that. I think the 10.00 price range a month is the magic number.
But now, for many people who want broadband...AOL also has a very good program for that. And personally I'm hard pressed to see why many more people would leave when you can get AOL PLUS broadband for the upper 20.00 price range.
This really is better than the GIMMICK pricing that the telcos are using with their price changes after a 12 month contract expires. And, from what I understand, AOL has no contract either for their broadband.
That's a very good deal. And AOL will survive...and prosper.
~RRR
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The life you help save just might be your own Team Discovery | |
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See 7 replies to this post |
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ElvinPena
join:2004-04-21
New York, NY | Bloatware... AOL used to be good/fun back when all you needed was a floppy to install the software. To say that it's bloated, now, would be a gross understatement. | |
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Dareius
Self proclaimed Premium member
join:2002-11-12
Elmhurst, NY
| The mighty have fallen..... I remember in the late 90's when I asked someone what company they used for the internet and the reply was AOL. He felt they were really good for his needs and also thought they were around so long, they invented the internet. LOL!
Sadly, quite a few people I met going through the transition from handwriting data to technological communication summed up AOL as the one and only means for internet access. Those same people were getting ripped off for nearly double the price of standard dial up access. Back then I was an Earthlink customer. I was happy with Earthlink due to them being an ISP and that was that. Give me my dial up number and account and leave me be. No installations required that rewrites the Windows 9x OS, etc.
Now we are in the Broadband age and prices are as low as $15 for continuos access 24/7. Personally, I am glad to see AOL burning like they are and hope they crash completely. I hope to see them go out of business for pretty much all the headaches I used to get having to repair and or reformat friends PC's that used their crap software that slowed access down to a crawl.
Good to see internet users have learned that there is more to the internet than AOL.
Crash and burn AOL! You are a cancer. | |
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man00
join:2003-07-25
74986
| the world against AOL Bah..most of this against AOL is kids the use to have AOL and since got something better. And they love to rub that into AOL
members faces. I don't use AOL but have in the past and overall it wasn't that bad. I couldn't care less if someone uses AOL or not. But to call out all AOL members is silly and really shows one maturity or lack of. | |
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Rob A
Same Old Jets
Premium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ | Aol? Is still around? With $26/month for dialup they should be out of business soon enough. | |
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| attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA
| Re: Aol? said by Rob A :Is still around? With $26/month for dialup they should be out of business soon enough. OH they ARE its just some FOOLS are still sleeping under a small rock call ignorance. | |
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Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1
clubs: | haha your Plan Back Fired | |
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ispjournalist
@internet.com
| two quick things in their favor 1) They disclose a great deal in the trending schedules (»ir.timewarner.com/trending.cfm). Kudos for disclosure (unlike WorldNet and MSN, for example).
2) RoadRunner is doing very very well. | |
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grandpinaple
join:2006-01-03
New York, NY | NOOO AOL must live They recently sent me another coaster in a nice wooden case. Keep it coming. | |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA | Re: NOOO AOL must live The Cases! Love the free DVD cases! | |
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| | ebiebi
join:2003-08-13
Albuquerque, NM
| Re: NOOO AOL must live said by dadkins :The Cases! Love the free DVD cases! They must be getting desperate since I received two offers in the mail this month. Earthlink is getting desperate too.. They offered me 6 months for 10 dollars.. and then sent me another offer to re join them for 7 bucks a month for 6 months. If I had to do dial up I think Earthlink is good if you configure the dialup manually without the CD.. They have a pretty good news server for free. If I had to do dialup, the earthlink for 10 or 7 dollars with newsgroups can't be beat. But I can't go back to those speeds!
AOL at those prices is just insane.. I think they will go down fast now.. its just too damn much for dialup.. Their nuts... I could care less if they die. | |
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truedalife
join:2003-01-10
Brooklyn, MD
| Death becomes them!!! Will they die already! There like a Horsefly that you whack with the paper and just keeps on moving, trying it's best to get away. Laying maggot eggs everywhere.
What kind of business practice is that to over charge your customers for a obsolete service? People express = $9.99, Netscape = $9.99 and Netzero = $9.99. So why are they charging almost 3 times more than the other services. Even BYOA is priced too high.
The only way AOL will ever live thru this is to give the Broadband ISP's access to there service for free. Even then I wouldn't use that crap. | |
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AOL: 3 Million Lost in 1 Year
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