 RickPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT | I remember thinking back in 1999 or 2000 or thereabouts when AOL ~ Time warner announced their intention to merge or acquire one another or whatever it is that they did to structure their deal...that Steve Case was probably the smartest human being on planet Earth at the time.
After all, here was a guy that had presided over the meteoric rise of this company, directed that an AOL CD appear everywhere imaginable...took a company from absolutely nothing a few years earlier and created a 20+ million something customer powerhouse..watched his fortunes soar and soar some more as AOL's stock ran to the stratosphere..
and then knew...and I do believe knew..at that early date..that the whole party was going to come crashing to an end.
And, he did the only thing he could. Affiliate his company with an operation like Time Warner that would let him stage his exit out of the business.
Right at the peak no less..of the internet boom of year 2000.
To be sure, he stuck around a bit longer. Taking his lumps as it all began to unravel. But who really was the architect of it all...and who was walking with untold riches?
And, who..in the final analysis of it all..staged what was probably one of the biggest business coups of the century?
I remember thinking all that for a couple reasons.
First, AOL's stock continued to soar..all the time amidst the first signs of broadband rolling out.
My old area in Ohio was probably one of the first to have cable internet..back in early 1998..and how could I not think that Dialup..was dead?
Using that service...running at T1 speeds way back then..I knew that all they had to do was find the way to get this in every home across America..and there simply would be no more AOL to talk about. Because what they DIDN'T control..was that last mile. And that would forever more be their undoing. Because if they wanted in the broadband business..to introduce their customers to it..they would have to partner..as a middle man..with another company who could provide that.
What I really recall thinking though at the time was how really stupid Time Warner management was.
Imagine..agreeing to that deal when the broadband writing was on the wall. And, you should understand that they SHOULD have known about that..because of the early rollout of RoadRunner across their cable systems.
But still..I guess the massive subscriber base of AOL just got to their heads. And they figured it was theirs to keep forever more.
Guess again. Because as fast as it was..this house that Steve Case built..surely..it would fall.
When the world..simply didn't want dialup anymore.
Mr. Case...you truly were one smart SOB.
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The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic! |
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 jester121Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
 ·voip.ms
| Steve Case's real genius was in recognizing the internet as something that needed to have ads plastered all over it. Prior to AOL, there just weren't many ads on the internet.
Whether things are better now or not may be subject to debate.
Personally, I think the internet went way downhill once people started using it. |
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 NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
 ·Comcast
·Callcentric
| said by jester121:Steve Case's real genius was in recognizing the internet as something that needed to have ads plastered all over it. Prior to AOL, there just weren't many ads on the internet. Whether things are better now or not may be subject to debate. Personally, I think the internet went way downhill once people started using it. Actually, internet ads really started catching on back in 1996. I remember seeing my first ad in late 1995 and by 1996, they were starting to become more and more widespread. I was in college at the time and I was just shocked to see ads on websites back then. |
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jester121Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL Reviews:
·voip.ms
| My point is, other than universities, no one had internet access prior to AOL's rise to prominence in the mid 1990s, so their first taste of Internet came with a side of Ads.
There were other ISPs around (Earthlink, Netcom, etc.) but none were as widespread as AOL. Even the other "online services" like Prodigy and Compuserver weren't very ad-centric at that point. |
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