how-to block ads
|
Comments on news posted 2003-11-18 09:33:50: With Comcast offering $20 introductory broadband, and SBC offering DSL around $27, things are looking shaky for the world's largest - and most expensive - ISP. ..
| |
 WangFubar
join:2003-10-02
Paradise, CA | Die! Die! Die! AOL May your death spiral be slow and torturous just like your service | |
| mom2vanessa
join:2003-08-09
Fresno, CA
| Ha Ha serves AOL right.... Ha ha ha ha. Will teach them to monopolize the internet industry. I just cancelled AOL cause I went with SBC Yahoo DSL cause it was just around the same price I was paying for Dial up and it is a lot faster. I would have never gone DSL with AOL it is just too expensive. | |
| cgw123
join:2002-09-13
Moraga, CA
| two cheers for AOL Well, just to disagree with most of the previous posts, I use AOL dsl (via SBC) and think it is a better choice than my obvious alternatives. I pay $250/yr for AOL dial up and $16/month for dsl (I had to threaten to quit to get this price, but they were polite and said yes right away), for a total cost of $41/month. SBC/Yahoo dsl, after an initial $27/month period, is $50/month, and comcast is $43/month (and more if I rent their cable modem; AOL included my dsl modem). I understand that comcast charges extra for each computer on the network; AOL doesn't.
I don't care about AOL content, and mainly use IE through an always-on connection with my home network (playing with the router settings converted the setup from one where I had to start AOL to get IE to work). I only use AOL to check email. The AOL spam filter spam filter seems pretty good; catches about 80% of spam, with no filtering of real mail so far (I look in the spam folder before hitting "delete all.").
I travel a lot and often find I don't have a high speed connection in my hotel room - always a local dial-up number available. Fortunately, this is becoming less important as more hotels add high speed internet.
The dsl tools speed test indicates speeds around 1200 down, 125 up. On the few occasions I have had to call technical support, I have found AOL to be generally awful, at least with home network/router related problems. Fortunately, this hasn't happened often and I have been able to solve any problem that has come up.
My wife and I have had the same email addresses for 10 years; makes me appreciate why people want portable cell phone numbers.
And my mother and daughter, both relatively light users, get their mail and dial-up access via my account. | |
| | 
Pseydtonne
Premium
join:2003-01-25
Melrose, MA
| "I hear tell the Earth is banana-shaped." Comcast does not charge more for extra computers. Buy a router, hook 'em up, and off you go.
The real point is that all of us broadbandreports folk tend to surf from home. We don't care about national dial-up numbers. We already know what we want from the Internet and don't want anything to hinder that. Our focus is speed, consistent connections and getting the house online without being charged for extra accounts.
I'm spoiled and I know it. I work for Comcast, so I get free cable modem. I know every objection by heart and I handle them each day. People buy new computers just to get cable modem. The speed, and not specialized content that verges on a hit to the wallet, is what moves customers.
You're a special case, sir. You're lucky to get good speed and national connectivity from AOL, a company whose best asset was the free floppies back when floppies cost a buck each. When I was in college, we'd scavenge junk mail in waste baskets for the floppies.
However, you admit you had to threaten to leave just to get your discount. No human should have to throw a tantrum just to get a discount. If they don't offer you respect for your continuity, they don't deserve.
It sounds more like a hostage situation -- "no one in my family wants to change email addresses after ten years, so I keep forking money to them." Stockholm syndrome, anyone?
I'd look up companies with national dial-up numbers. Have a complete backup plan ready when they decide to stick you. After all, you have a backup plan when the power goes out (flashlights with fresh batteries, lanterns, maybe a generator in the garage); you should have one in case AOL stops offering you reacharounds.
Hey, you don't like Comcast. Lots of people don't. That's why competition is best. Vibrant competition keeps the market jumping.
...and that's why I run two flavors of Linux.
-just sayin', Ps/d | |
| 
Vamp
5c077
Premium
join:2003-01-28
MD | haha "the company has added 340,000 new subscribers in the third quarter, but has lost millions"
GOOD  | |
| manadigi
join:2003-11-11
Ogden, UT
| go down go down,,evil evil... well,they sent a book to me,the book title was something like: learn to surf the web" I can't remember,I sent the freaking book back with delivery comfirmation,they never refound my money(about 49.00),and I never order that book it all,but they took my money just like that,I spoke with someone,they said,,sorry for the problem and we will credit to you credit card,they never credit those 49.00
so,now with comcast in my city,I am very happy for the last few years
yessss,,,I hope all the bad luck to their aol broadband crap.
Sancho. | |
| 
MeNaCe942
join:2003-07-25
Sacramento, CA
clubs: 
| hmm as much as everyone dispises aol, if it goes under what will happen to aim... considering there are probably more aim users than aol users at this point...
would probably cause a massive flood towards icq or yahoo...
--
Of course i won't | |
| | 
comcaster2
@tci.com
| Re: hmm 1: comcast dosent charge more for additional computers on a network, only additional IP's
2: AOl has one saving grace and its the main reason I keep a byoa account, a 16 GIG email box limit, thats 16 GIGs per email address. I have personally had 5 ISO images saved in my email account. There are tons of email only filegroups which allow fast searching and easy delivery of quality content(you know what eh). That is alone worth the 14.99/month byoa costs me. | |
| | 
avantare
Go Tribe
join:2000-02-16
Farmington, MI | ICQ is owned by AOHell.
Chuck | |
| | Matt 2618
join:2003-11-19
Aurora, IL
| AOL isn't going anywhere, but if they did it would be a blow to the internet.
Even though it's popular to "hate everything AOL", such people do not realize that AOL also consists of the following....
ICQ
Netscape (also funding Mozilla)
Nullsoft (WinAmp)
Mapquest.com
Moviefone.com
Spinner Networks
SHOUTcast
Compuserve
Chances are, you are enjoying an AOL service every single day and may not even realize it. | |
| | | Ak2pacalypse
join:2003-01-23
Missouri City, TX
| AOL == Loser it wouldnt be hard for those websites and/or services to find other sponsors...
i also have a question..
why the #$@$ does AOL cost so frikin much!?!?
i have been preplexed by that question for a very long time. i must be missing something important.
can someone tell me what im missing here?? | |
|
Theo25
@attbi.com | They are now #2 in broadband They have quietly become #2 in broadband (combining both AOL and Roadrunner, TW owns both). Only comcast has more.
I love the aol service, I use byoa and wouldn't change, you gotta love it baby, it rocks! | |
| 
Phoenix__1
join:2003-07-17
Holyoke, MA | Nony Na na, Nony Na Na, Hay, haaaay.... Good Bye! Nony Na na, Nony Na Na, Hay, haaaay.... Good Bye!
ATT AOL: Lower your prices or get ready to sell out. Unless Chapter 11 is still an option... again, & again, & again... | |
| NoFatChicks
No, I'M The Exon And You're The Intron
join:2002-06-15
Blountsville, AL
| I hope the rot in HE Double Hockey Sticks! I tried canceling my account, after getting broadband and tiring of their slow speeds ect… Anyhow, the AOL employee was like a car dealer, trying to get me to get their ‘content’ and still keep other features. After 10 minutes, it quite literally became a screaming match, and I said I would never use them again. They still changed me for two months after that, but I could never get any satisfaction form them. Has anyone had a similar experience, just curious. | |
| tomj1226
join:2002-02-20
Allentown, PA
| trashing AOL.... Everyone seems to love to jump on the trash AOL bandwagon, some peoples arrogance is mind boggling. I don't use it personally, but for many people who don't want to run five programs to do the same thing AOL does, or who don't want to pay CNN newspass to get their video, etc., who want to limit their childrens time online etc., it's a viable alternative. Are there other programs that do exactly the same thing as AOL? Yes. Is it overpriced? Yes. Bottom line, if you don't like it, the best way to express that is to not pay for it, and not assume that if someone else does, then that automatically means you are more intelligent then them. Arrogance is a sign of unintelligence. There ARE people who use AOL who are smarter than you and me. | |
| damox
Premium
join:2002-01-07
Olympia, WA
 ·Comcast Formerly ..
| That is so funny! "You've Got....Problems" LOL! For some reason, I find that heading sooo funny.
I am not an AOL fan, but then again, who is? As much pain and suffering as they've caused unsuspecting folks over the years (OK, I admit to having tried them twice many years ago, in my early days of computing), it would be nice to see them just go away! Don't suppose that'll happen though. | |
| | Ak2pacalypse
join:2003-01-23
Missouri City, TX
| the people at AOL are a bunch of losers I bet that all of the 340,000 new AOL users in the third quater were on the free 3 month trials...
and u know whats sad?
I used AOL for free for 3 months and when i called to cancel they were almost begging me to not cancel and offered me more free months.
thats pretty sad... | |
|
swanony
@charter.com
| The wicked witch will die - oh joyous occasion! I promised myself the day AOL announces bankruptcy I will take a couple days off work to celebrate. I will sing gleeful songs from the mountain tops and dance in the streets. I will buy the entire bar a round of drinks and we can all use our free CDs for coasters and frisbees. Networks stacks everywhere will again be cleansed of AOL demons. The great lamer fortress will have crumbled. Joy and harmony will once again rule the land. We will live happily ever after. And it will be good... | |
|
Grugbug
@attbi.com
| Try to get rid of it AOL wants to do everything for you,and in the wrong ways.Once it is in your machine,it is a major deal to completly uninstall all the crap they think you need to have.I am a big gamer.I have been in the pc field since 1976 and I always know when an AOLer logs in to play a game.It is spelled....LAG.AOL is for the person who goes down and buys a pc at one of the electronics stores and doesn't know about all the other options available to them.And it's free(for a while).ANd they don't bother to change.I fell their pain. | |
|
suede78
@aol.com
| internet explorer sucks!!! aol and internet explorer suck.
to heck with bill gates and his dirty corrupt software!!!
every computer should NOT have internet explorer EVER!
it's the worst with all the pop-ups and crap!
you try to use someone elses browser like aol and ZAP!
pop-up city compliments of internet explorer!
i wanna take IE and shove it right up bill gates's ass.
as for aol yah,they are terrible i can't even use you've got pictures cuz every time it loads you get a blue screen that sits there forever waiting and waitng and waiting.....
still nothing page loads and says done on the bottom corner??? what is that crap anyway?
done. yeah i'm done with unreliable corrupt software companies.we should put all of them on a large boat and set it on fire as we cast them away...... | |
| | | |
|
