Zoz0
join:2001-07-29
Houston, TX | Monkeys, AOL and various other nogoodniks Alright, normally I like to troll through the forums looking for something interesting to read and sometimes discuss, I couldn't however resist the urge to add to what is obviously a tit for tat about AOL (who can't resist this?).
After reading Roadrunner Rick's (supposedly informed) opinion about AOL and the various amounts of egotism being tossed about, well, I felt I decided to add to the obvious amounts of egotism running around. I would like to state first off that I despise AOL and all they stand for... but it seems to have achieved it's status for being the primary way for complete newbies to get on the internet. Those of you who support AOL and are actually involved in the Technical aspect of the industry... well shame on you. That's sad.
I work on the support end in a solutions center for a corporate entity. Let me tell you AOL has been the biggest thorn in my backside for ages. It has a lot to do with the proprietary nature of the wonderful 'easy' to use interface. The software that AOL installs (or you install, or more precisely the virus known as AOL as another poster stated), is a heinous piece of garbage which replaces the networking components with it's own brand of ummm... TCP/IP of all things actually corrupted more than a few computers on our internal network.
Cable isn't the greatest service either... neither is DSL/satellite, etc. However I've found that I have had no issues once my DSL is up and running (getting set up is another matter) I can understand your average user not wanting to bother. I can also understand that their collective butts will also not be able to tolerate their 'good enough' connection within a couple of years as the internet gets more and more saturated with 'content' that dial-up customers won't be able to even access a page... at that point I guess, judging from the attitudes they'll either come over to Broadband or basically cancel 'net access altogether. I can see this happening... uh huh.
Just my two cents but seriously AOL DOES suck... mainly due to the software that gets loaded on to your systems, email, the "built-in" browser (which no one in their right mind should be using), and even AIM (AOL Instant Messenger for you pedants out there) are all proprietary software pieces that are very damn close to incompatible with almost everything outside of the AOL community. Think on it. |
