Why do people buy into AOL?? (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

pretty much if you use AOL you've been owned by AOL-time-warner's marketing department.

 

[Steve Owen]

People use AOL because it's incredibly simple to get started... they don't need to think, they don't need to follow instructions, they don't need to read a manual... all they need is a disc (which everyone gets dozens of every year) and a credit card. No other company that offers such simplicity markets it very well.
I've had to tell this to a few friends/family...
AOL is NOT the internet!
It's amazing to me how many AOLers don't know what else is out there (and thank goodness for that, actually). It was May 1992 that usenet was destroyed forever by the influx of AOLers (that link is the first usenet post from an AOL account).
-Steve

 

[Philip_G]

it's funny, I used to work for an ISP in a small town near portland OR, but at the time there was no AOL node that was a local call, so people would actually pay (at the time) $20 a month to us, and 20$ a month to AOL so they could still use aol over TCP/IP

 

[Brad_W]

I hate AOL so much it's not even funny. The week that I tried AOL I could only log on ONCE and when I finally did, I got kicked off after 15 minutes.
People LOVE to pay more for less.
The worst part about AOL is that they say things like "free" email and what not. Yeah, email is free anyway. Schmucks of the world unite and join AOL (the Devil). The second worst part of AOL is seeing them on the Warner logo now. Good god I HATE AOL.
AOL:
Aged Old Ladies
Army of Lawyers
Anal Oils & Lubes
Angry Old Ladies
Sorry, sometimes my heated venting leads my replies to be scattered and non-linear.

 

[Jon_B]

advertising, advertising, advertising. Pretty soon when some poor soul gets a computer and wants to hook it up to the internet the first thing that pops into their mind is AOL. :frowning:
Jon

 

[John Besse]

Hey don't knock AOL. There are 31 million users on AOL and it puts money in my pocket. I do tech support for them, and it is absolutely amazing the amount of people that dont understand a thing about AOL. I thought it was over simplifies for basic users.

Anyways, I've got nothing against AOL. I dont use it, never have. Dont plan on it either. Well, besides of at work and all. But AOL isn't too bad nonetheless... I'm happier with my Road Runner which is now owned by AOL. That company is going to continue to get bigger. It's like a virus I guess!

Truth of the matter is, they are one of the only ISPs really promoting the service to a mass group of people. They include the software on Microsoft OS's. And come on, you have seen the promo DVD cases that AOL offers. Who here hasn't taken a whole mess of those stupid cases?

 

[Travis Hedger]

"(and so could they if they just did some research).."
No they CAN'T!
I worked at the OKC support center from 96-99. It was a hellish 3 years.
Basically the people that use AOL are dazzled by pretty colors, icons, and spoon feeding of content. They have no desire for researching better because 97% think that AOL IS the internet!
AOL as a simple internet connection can work for most people who need exactly that and for this purpose AOL is ok. (well before their prices got jacked up)
As I stated it was hellish. We had hundreds of techs on staff in our location alone and the phones were always ringing. Basically you had to give an education on the use of a mouse and how to double click and show then that the start button CAN be used from time to time.
Most people call in because "an error" told them they could not get online, never mind that they never wrote the error down or left it on the screen. Also you would get a lot of calls where the modem reported no dialtone, they call us and we tell em to check their phoneline connections to their modems, they refuse because "it worked before" and when you ask them one final time 99% of the time Fluffy got a hold of the cable or it was loose.
Sorry for the rant, I still have alot of pent up anger about how the organization was run while I was there.
"There are 31 million users"
It Hit 33 Million this week

 

[Patrick Sun]

Well, for some people AOL is the right choice for them. One of those people is my dad. For a couple of years, my dad suffered through using an ISP that floundered, and his email was spotty. He needed a more reliable means without all that technobabble getting in the way of receiving email and surfing the web. For him, AOL is the simplest means, and he's perfectly happy with it. And since I'm nowhere near him to help with tech issues, it works for me too.
And yes, I understand that AOL is for J6P's of the internet.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

What I dislike about AOL is the deliberately misleading advertising. They always have some actor say:

"All my friends are on AOL".

This makes it sound like if you don't get AOL, you will have no way of contacting your friends through e-mail.

I would suggest that this fear of being left out (and left behind, technologically speaking) is one of the reasons for Window's success, too.

 

[Rain]

...and no Rain, it's not me dressed up in drag...

I wasn't going to say anything. I promised I wouldn't do anymore jokes about that. However, since you brought it up, you must admit there is a bit of a resemblance.

 

[James RD]

You mean the guy in the clown hat and the guy in the wig are not the same guy?

 

[SteveGon]

Geez, as an AOL user, you guys make me wanna crawl under a rock! Seriously though, I freely admit to being a J6P when it comes to computers. One of these days, I'm gonna get off my lazy duff and learn how to really use the damn things. Then I'll ditch AOL and get with the program!

 

[Ryan Wright]

AOL is the borg. All your base are belong to them.

(ok, so it stopped being funny 6 months ago...)

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I would suggest that this fear of being left out (and left behind, technologically speaking) is one of the reasons for Window's success, too.

But atleast there's somewhat of a barrier between operating systems. People running Mac0S, BeOS, Linux, etc. can't run windows stuff unless it's ported. AOL instant messager means that ANYONE with ANY internet connection can talk to AOL users.

 

[Eric Kahn]

I used AOL for 3 weeks on my laptop while at training in Norman OK, it was free

next time I go I am going to pay someone for internet access

I guess I can not load the new ICQ, I refuse to use anything with pop up ads

AOL

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