| reply to garmst
Re: Many Happy dialup users said by garmst:
I know of a lot of people who very happy with their dialup. They have no interest in spending any more than what they are spending for internet access. They don't care one bit about MP3's and Video on demand. They do a few minutes of browsing and email a day and thats it.
These folks like their AOL and dialup. I don't think many of them would change even if DSL or Cable was the same as dialup in price. Inertia.
Just like my dad who keeps asking me why we need DSL when dial-up is good enough for him.
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"The Final Frontier is not Space it is the Human Imagination." - Boeing |
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| Whatever.... I know a lot of people that are very happy driving a Geo Metro but they would be happier driving an Escalade. They are happy cause at least they have a car.
Give me a break. In 10 years we will be doing so much on the web that a dial-up will be obsolete. the only people using it will be those that are on the road for business purposes and just need to check e-mail. Even in those cases there will probably be data jacks at the local bar so you can check your laptop while having a bottle of Sierra Nevada. This chic is really missing the boat and AOL is going to continue to lose market share if they don't make a change in their sentiment toward Broadband. It is inevitable that we will all be using Broadband eventually, just like video tapes give way to DVD, cassettes give way to CD, etc. People will still use them but most will be using the newer technology that has more to offer. Broadband will continue to grow and if AOL holds on to the "dial-up" market they will continue to shrink.
There is no margin in the dial-up market either. Broadband ISPs make as much on 1 business DSL customer as AOL makes on 5-25 dial-up customers.
AOL was made for monkeys, "It's so easy, no wonder it's number 1," and now it's time to evolve. |
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| I totally agree. If that behemoth of a company could not forecast that broadband would be the next big thing, then they just need to disintegrate into oblivion. With online gaming and p2p programs, high speed is the only speed to go. Their merger with Time Warner was also a stupid mistake and will inevitably be their downfall. Has anyone seen any synergy between the 2? Nope. They are 2 different cultures dishing out the same entertainment media. AOL should have been like Phillip Morris, at least they diversified their companies so that when they got hit with the tobacco settlements, they could stay afloat with their other product offerings. |
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| reply to DSL man0
I thought we were talking about RESIDENTIAL BROADBAND. AOL will never provide BUSINESS CLASS ANYTHING. Comparing RESIDENTIAL dial-up to BUSINESS broadband is not fare. The margin for residential dial-up is far greater than piggybacking ISPs make on $40-$50 residential broadband where they are completely at the mercy of monopoly infrastructure providers who could crush them in an instant if there was no fear of government regulation. AOL's cost is only like $7/month per dial-up user, it's about $40 for broadband. Plus and installation problems are paid by the ISP. Dial-up has none of these problems, every customer is a guaranteed profit. |
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| reply to Klendathu
You got this wrong big time. DOWNFALL FOR WHOM???? AOL??!?!!?!. AOL won big time. Steve Case has never stopped smiling. He got away with murder. He bought that huge media conglomerate: film production, cable broadcaster, cable MSO, magazine publisher, book and music publisher for internet stock at it's peak. He sold high. AOL stock would be worth far less had they not bought TW. TW screwed up by allowing the merger. But don't criticize AOL, they won big. |
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