The New, Bionic AOL 'Optimized' version 9.0 makes debut America Online this week introduced AOL 9.0 Optimized to members; the company's latest effort to stem dial-up subscriber losses while enticing would-be broadband customers. On Friday the company will release the client to existing customers as a preview before the full launch this fall. The client offers new security features, improved spam filters, and further integrates high bandwidth content thanks to what one AOL VP dubs "relentless innovation". The previews of the software are rolling in from news outlets like Wired, the Motley Fool, Business Week, and more. Plenty is hinging on this latest incarnation of the AOL client. With AOL leaking subscribers from both ends, and still offering one of the priciest broadband options in the business; AOL's promises of a content walled "garden of eden" (that justifies the cost) need to materialize sooner rather than later.
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  oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA | Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster The very definition of bloatware. I guess AOL will never learn. | |
|  |
| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster Its actually getting great reveiws from all who have tested it. »www.cnet.com/internet/0-3762-8-2···7-1.html
Sure, its bloatware if that is not the type of content you want (or if you want content at all) or you have an old shitty computer.. I happen to love the broadband content( i am a streaming content junkie) and dont consider it bloatware in the least bit. You also dont have to use the client anymore when you dont want to see the content for those of you who have AOL Broadband DSL. You connect with ppoe instead of the client with DSL. You can also just get BYOA if you like being able to see full concerts with great artists streaming in crystal clear quality, news,sports,movies,ect. A great filesharing community, and a shitload of other "FEATURES". If your into all that, AOL Broadband is great..it is nothing compared to what AOL was only just about 5 years ago.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 13:35:00] | |
| | | oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA
| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster I have a hard time believing a review from someone who would give AOL well know horrid service and support a 9 even though they admit to that portion of the software not being complete and therefore not testable while the AOL forums here are wrought with AOL subscribers complaining of the same.
Plus AOL remains at the bottom (save for MSN) of the national ISP heap according to reviews by subscribers here as well as a continued horrid showing with J.D. Power.
In addition (this may have changed) but AOL was planning to charge an additional $3 (as if their rates weren't high enough) per month to get access to the new security features of AOL 9.0.
Content can be gotten anywhere. Inclusion of realpass simply doesn't justify the high cost.
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"Countries...have a right to be free, and we a right to aid them, as a strong man has a right to assist a weak one assailed by a robber or murderer." --Thomas Jefferson, 1816.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 13:37:21] | |
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| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster YOU PAY FOR THE REALPASS...10 bucks a month. YOU PAY FOR CNN..ect. And you are totally wrong that you can get the AOL concerts, the filesharing, ect anywhere else on the web..YOU CANT.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 13:46:06] | |
| | | | |  ameniteThe Soylent - It's PeoplePremium
join:2002-11-21
Ridgewood, NJ
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster said by storm64007:
YOU PAY FOR THE REALPASS...10 bucks a month. YOU PAY FOR CNN..ect. And you are totally wrong that you can get the AOL concerts, the filesharing, ect anywhere else on the web..YOU CANT.
Why do I need AOL for concerts when I have DirecTV Freeview? 
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Time is an abstract concept invented by carbon based life forms to monitor their constant decay.-Thunderclese | |
| | | | | | | | Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster said by amenite:
said by storm64007:
YOU PAY FOR THE REALPASS...10 bucks a month. YOU PAY FOR CNN..ect. And you are totally wrong that you can get the AOL concerts, the filesharing, ect anywhere else on the web..YOU CANT.
Why do I need AOL for concerts when I have DirecTV Freeview?
Uhmmm no..LOL! They are different concerts though..what you will see on AOL concerts are artists on the time/warner labels such as LOU REED, today its THE WHO. | |
| | | | | | | ameniteThe Soylent - It's PeoplePremium
join:2002-11-21
Ridgewood, NJ Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster The DirecTV stuff is Dolby Digital 5.1 and the picture is outstanding.
Last week was Radiohead from London, this weekend it's Roger Waters playing The Wall live from The Berlin Wall, 1990, remastered; Bob Marley & The Wailers Live in London 1977. Seems like a pretty good mix so far
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Time is an abstract concept invented by carbon based life forms to monitor their constant decay.-Thunderclese | |
| | | | | | | | | | Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster said by amenite:
The DirecTV stuff is Dolby Digital 5.1 and the picture is outstanding.
Last week was Radiohead from London, this weekend it's Roger Waters playing The Wall live from The Berlin Wall, 1990, remastered; Bob Marley & The Wailers Live in London 1977. Seems like a pretty good mix so far
Yup..that is good. | |
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| | | | oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA
| said by storm64007:
YOU PAY FOR THE REALPASS...10 bucks a month. YOU PAY FOR CNN..ect. And you are totally wrong that you can get the AOL concerts, the filesharing, ect anywhere else on the web..YOU CANT.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 13:46:06]
Oh yeah, there is no filesharing outside AOL. Yep, Launch.com doesn't have music. Guess we all NEED AOL to get content.
And as far as realpass goes...that's my point. Realpass is worthless. Who needs to pay higher ISP rates just to see CNN.com's 2x2" video streams when you can get news from CNN TV or free from other online sources.
As a former AOL customer, I'm just not seeing anything special in AOL's content to warrant dealing with their crappy client, bad customer service and high ISP rates.
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"Countries...have a right to be free, and we a right to aid them, as a strong man has a right to assist a weak one assailed by a robber or murderer." --Thomas Jefferson, 1816. | |
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| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster said by oliphant5:
said by storm64007:
YOU PAY FOR THE REALPASS...10 bucks a month. YOU PAY FOR CNN..ect. And you are totally wrong that you can get the AOL concerts, the filesharing, ect anywhere else on the web..YOU CANT.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 13:46:06]
Oh yeah, there is no filesharing outside AOL. Yep, Launch.com doesn't have music. Guess we all NEED AOL to get content.
And as far as realpass goes...that's my point. Realpass is worthless. Who needs to pay higher ISP rates just to see CNN.com's 2x2" video streams when you can get news from CNN TV or free from other online sources.
As a former AOL customer, I'm just not seeing anything special in AOL's content to warrant dealing with their crappy client, bad customer service and high ISP rates.
Realpass is worthless to you but not to the millions of people signed up for it and enjoy it. First off, not everyone can get CNN on tv and not everyone has cable TV in the world but do have a broadband connection. As for the streaming..it streams at 350-400k and looks great at full screen(not no 2x2 lil screen). You also get exclusive content that you might not like or need but others OBVIOUSLY want (realone has millions of subscribers) such as MLB games, NASCAR, 24 hour big brother feeds, ect. The same goes for AOL content..there are reasons why people enjoy the content and pay for it.. being able to watch cnn clips or full news at work on their comps, ect. Many, many different reasons..not everyone has your tastes or likes or access to your cable tv programs.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 14:37:25] | |
| | | | | | | oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA
| Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster Yep...overpriced bloatware. And full screen? So what. I consider myself having a pretty pricy monitor with the 19" viewsonic DFP...now that is compared to a typical television. 19" isn't crap...even a large screen, say 21" what's the point. Concerts are about entertainment. You're going to get entertained by a 19" picture and computer speakers? If you are satisfied with spending extra money EVERY month for this type of stuff...more power to you...but I'd rather put that $10 toward a Netflix subscription or something that gets me way more "content" for my money.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 14:54:32] | |
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| | |  cjynxWhatchu Talkin' Bout
join:2003-01-13
Pittsburgh, PA | I walked out of a job interview with AT&T when they used AOL for some reason. They said that the techs (job I was there for) would fix systems that had problems with AOL. I told them that EVERY system has problems with AOL. It's not the systems, it's the software. I told them that I couldn't handle the stress of dealing with AOL on a daily basis and that the job wasn't for me. Buh-bye. | |
| | | | | | |  Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster
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| | | | | | oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA | Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster They're glutton for punishment. They told their employees if they make their profit targets that they will get to remove the software. | |
| | | | | | |  Frankis chillingPremium
join:2000-11-03
somewhere | Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster most companies have aol on thier computers. employees (not employers) install it. Last company i worked for used aim to communicate throughout the office and people had aol installed all over by employees..... and this was at the noc level, it came in very handy if you wanted to see cnn or sports stuff and junk from work without having to pay that realpass crap.
on the otherhand, you'll be suprised how many executives with six figure salaries use aol at work. | |
| | | | | | | Noodlin
join:2003-07-11
Monterey Park, CA | That’s just cruel and unusual punishment. I’m pretty sure something like that is in breach of the Geneva Convention, or count as some kind of War Crime. | |
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| | | | | cjynxWhatchu Talkin' Bout
join:2003-01-13
Pittsburgh, PA | It wasn't installed in the office, it was on customer's machines. I think it was their first run at Internet access. I don't know why they used it, but I didn't stick around to find out either. | |
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| | | | | | said by cjynx:
I walked out of a job interview with AT&T when they used AOL for some reason. They said that the techs (job I was there for) would fix systems that had problems with AOL. I told them that EVERY system has problems with AOL. It's not the systems, it's the software. I told them that I couldn't handle the stress of dealing with AOL on a daily basis and that the job wasn't for me. Buh-bye.
Your better than me, I have not yet found an interview I would walk out of these days. You must hate AOL problems pretty bad.
murdok610 | |
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| | | No matter now many version AOL comes out, AOL will still remain the same forever, bad internet services, though there software is very nice and nice looking. Other than that STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM! | |
| | | oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA | Re: Bigger, stronger, -cough- faster And it's not just the client...it's dealing with AOL. Have a question...better order dinner cause you'll be on hold forever just to get a AOL knownothing who will tell you the solution to your problem is formatting.
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"Countries...have a right to be free, and we a right to aid them, as a strong man has a right to assist a weak one assailed by a robber or murderer." --Thomas Jefferson, 1816. | |
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| | | AOL says "relentless innovation". The only thing relentless up to now has been the relentless innovation for their software to latch on to your system and for you to be unable to fully uninstall all of it.
And why does half the web sites one visits have special instructions for users who are accessing the site via AOL?
Five years ago I had a business relationship with EarthLink. All of the AOL executive staff used EarthLink for their email--and it wasn't free. | |
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 MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL |  Drum Roll Please
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| |  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Drum Roll Please Drumroll? I think what you're hearing is the sound of crickets chirping.
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Jewel got Britney-fied! There is hope for the world yet! | |
|
 gargzoHow You Doin?
join:2000-11-02
South Bend, IN
·AT&T Midwest
| I Like AOL...................... I put all those little metal or plastic CD mailers to good use. If it were not for AOL I would have to buy something to mail CD's. Why not let the AOL subscribers pay for my mailers. I like those people. Now if I could just get those same people to help me out in other areas like my electric,gas,water etc.
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Actual cash value of this post $0.0002. | |
| | | | Re: I Like AOL...................... said by gargzo:
I put all those little metal or plastic CD mailers to good use. If it were not for AOL I would have to buy something to mail CD's. Why not let the AOL subscribers pay for my mailers. I like those people. Now if I could just get those same people to help me out in other areas like my electric,gas,water etc.
I use them to transport my cds on spindles too..LOL! | |
| | | | | | | | | Re: I Like AOL...................... said by wolfox:
I use the tins the CD's came in to keep blank cigarette tubes and hand-rolling tobacco in. Nevermind the fact that I had a nifty machine to make my smokes with - my friends always commented on the colorful AOL CD tins.
Yup..the tins are the best. LOL!!!!! | |
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| | | | | | Re: I Like AOL...................... said by lordfly:
The cases are good to store the backups. The CDs themselves go to my 14 month old daughter to play with. I have used them many times as frisbees. Sometimes they send DVD cases, which of course we use for the DVDs that did not come in cases.
AOL provides entertainment, but I don't think the kind they are looking for.
Dont give your 14 month old daughter the cds to play with...they are damn sharp..can cut like a knife! | |
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| | | I liked it better when they sent out floppies. Just format 'em and use them. Thanks to them, I never had to buy a single floppy. 
Now they're sending those damn CDs, which are pretty useless. The least they could do is send out CD-RWs. I could use some more of those. | |
|
| they don't get it! no wonder they are losing money! yesterday a sales rep called and offered me free dial up access for $1 until October! then i told her i had Verizon DSL and she began talking about AOL Broadband for only $$ bucks a month.
*my bad, $$=represents whatever the AOL Broadband price they are offering now, but when i asked if it was $55 bucks for the service, she said yes. *
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Site: coming soon AIM: m2dek MSN: coming soon Come check out our new forums!
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 15:28:44] | |
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See 10 replies to this post | |
| | Thing is.. AOL walked people through and introduced the internet to people when they were on dialup. Now, as people have become more familiar, they are moving onto broadband and off AOL. And it seems anything AOL does won't stop them. | |
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| Re: Thing is.. said by beeman65:
AOL walked people through and introduced the internet to people when they were on dialup. Now, as people have become more familiar, they are moving onto broadband and off AOL. And it seems anything AOL does won't stop them.
Actually, if you read the articles you are wrong. Yes dial up users are leaving for broadband but they are coming back to AOL on BYOA for the rich broadband content and p2p (for those who are in the know) for the very easy,somewhat safer, and extremely good filesharing community.
You can get BYOA for a measly 9 bucks a month which MANY are doing.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 14:06:22] | |
| | | oliphant5Got Identity?Premium
join:2003-05-24
Corona, CA | Re: Thing is.. They are bleeding subscribers to OTHER providers...there is nothing in the article that refutes that fact. | |
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| | | I'm sorry I don't read up on AOL 24/7 because frankly, I just don't care. If they still get money from BYOA, why are they yapping? | |
| | | | |  Re: Thing is..
$15 x 1,000,000 = Alot of jack that has left the coffers... | |
|
 Vamp5c077Premium
join:2003-01-28
MD
kudos:1 | ... AOL will always be hated, why dont they just cancel the whole thing and start over with a different name, no software or browser needed and just a regular broadband. | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
| | AOLosers....
--
I will never, ever, buy another CD again. EVER! I don't care if I have to buy a canary to sing to me because of the RIAA trying to stop MP3s. I will NEVER buy another CD again.-------"Its so easy no wonder its number 1!"... Stupidity for the masses. | |
| tor528
join:2003-05-03
Snohomish, WA |  If AOL did this, less people would hate it...
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See 7 replies to this post | |
| | AOL and Kids I have been using the ver 9 software for a while now and it is good. I use AOL with a BYOA account (ie only for content) and if you have kids it is brilliant. Protected content, chat, email etc. I just wished that I had discovered it a long time ago.
I personally still use my MS browser 90% of the time for the extra speed but I sleep easier knowing that my kids cant. | |
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See 8 replies to this post | |
 C0deZer0Oc'D To Rhythm And PolicePremium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL |  DIE AOL!!!
I have used AOL before, back when 98SE was new, 32MB RAM was considered "good enough", and AOL 5 *just* came out. I didn't choose to get it (my brother & mom - who didn't know much better about the internet - got it, and I was already used to using IE 4 from the library).
Boy, we were in for a ride... 
Parental controls just caused the thing to crash and kick you off even over sites that (when pulled up elsewhere), you wouldn't even think would have triggered any such controls (like a nazi firewall ). It just seemed to be there to purposely cause the client to crash at will.
the IM client ironically is the worst thing about AOL. Even their AIM client is more advanced by comparison. You cannot direct-connect or even send a file to an AOL user for anything. And within AOL, you can't even send a file to someone and continue using the program. It physically locks itself until you either cancel the process, or the file is completed. One step forward, 14 steps back.
Email through AOL is a joke. When you receive it from an AOL user (that hasn't bothered to modify the default settings), it comes in this garbled jumble of HTML, that typically makes it ridiculously hard for anyone to read. And who would want to see how those emails look like? Using the same background color as the text, sickly yellow backgrounds with vomit-colored animations. Loads of animated GIFs within the email content... ugh! Speaking of the email, anyone here remember when they tried to force AOL execs to use their own ISP's email service? Obviously, that turned out to be a huge failure. In some cases, sending AOL email would be slower than snail mail.
Also, the client UI is certainly way too damn kiddie. I'm surprised that with as many people that hated Windows XP for its "teletubbie" interface, that they don't just go ahead and rip a new a-hole into the blatantly poor copy of said look that AOL has done with their newer browsers as of late. I've seen how AOL 3.0 looked like once, and I didn't think it could get any uglier. Obviously, it just did. And the worst part is that you cannot even adjust it, whether to only have text links within there, or just only pictures viewable... the interface practically takes about 30% of the visible screenspace, which is something that the original designer of the app should be shot for.
You'd think an ISP as large as AOL could at least get one thing right - reliability. Though with my previous experience with them, this is something that they have failed miserably in (for dialup). And from what I have heard from more recent subscribers have been telling me locally, it has only got worse. Busy signals, long periods of waiting to connect, and the surreptitious modem-screeching just makes the dial-up experience worse than L.A. during the rodney king riot. And the fact that you still need to "sign in" with the broadband version of their software leaves much to desire. The email farce that the AOL execs had is an obvious testament to how badly they have failed to meet the demand of their formerly humongous subscriberhood.
The chat rooms alone are full of pedophiles and very deranged people, if anyone has ever visited any of these. chat flooding, spamming through the rooms, and hten a few that would sign you up for pr0n mailings just for looking them up!  And you know that the TOS doesn't do squat to many of them - they even go as far as make the offenders into "assistant mods" on their network, able to kick you off with the click of a mouse. It certainly gets a little annoying when you get IM'd by someone wanting your password for the umpteenth time only to get auto-booted for denying them.
And anyone that has used their client software for any good length of time will tell you that the thing is set up for window hell. Before long, you would have about 40 internal windows within the app, and you still can't close the "welcome!" screen without getting kicked offline. said by typical AOL session:
"Wel--GOODBYE!GOODBYE!GOODBYE!GOODBYE!
please sign on again."
And as if you couldn't have *enough* windows just running the software like you were supposed to, AOL had to deviously leave it so that it will auto-spawn popups for their vendors that will kick you off if you tried to click them off, because surely enough, one of them will say said by AOL auto-kickoff popup:
you've been signed on for 0.4 seconds! would you like to sign off now?
For paying a minimum $24/month for "unlimited access", they sure want you off pretty fast.
And the stability of the software? What a laugh. After about a month when I was stuck using only AOL 5, it had already deleted himem.sys, leaving us unable to boot to windows, or much else. At the time, we didn't really know what else to do except reformat. That doesn't even account for the 50 BSOD's a day the thing would cause after it was installed. :(:(
And then what was funny was when I first got my own machine. Just clicking the (preinstalled by gateway ) AOL icon by accident and it had practically took over my computer, locking it up and trying to get on after all the times I hit cancel. It took a rather lengthy procedure to finally get back to running the machine like normal. And forget about trying to uninstall it, since AOL's software will purposely destroy your system files so that it will never be stable without it afterward. It doesn't matter if it's AOL, AIM, or even Realplayer now. They all equally screw over the machine, and only give me the impression that the whole development "team" over at America Online is made up of pre-school toddlers that are using some kind of 7-year-old auto-generator for their code.
After finally convincing my mom and brother to get OFF the madness and get a real ISP, that's when we got to find out the [sarcasm]BEST PART of the service![/sarcasm] - trying to cancel the thing. It took several, lengthy long-distance calls, a trial lawyer, and even ripping up the credit cards to get new ones in order to shake those bastards off.
You couldn't pay me enough to use their god-awful service again. And that's the last word.
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Why I hate VIA | |
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See 9 replies to this post | |
 SidPremium
join:2002-11-29
Santa Maria, CA | Realone Super Pass This is much better than AOLs content. More video content than AOL. The only thing it doesnt have is the AOL Sessions or Concerts, which I can care less about. The full screen video...well superpass has been using that for a long time. AOL does have its place, Im not trying to bash it too much. My wife still uses it at times. But we are canceling it in the next day or so. Hey, I started out on AOL. It was great to me at the time. My needs change, technology changes and AOL didnt move as fast and theyre playing catch up. I think AOL will always be a dominant force in the internet world. Because of all the subscriber loss it forces aol to change for the better and subscribers reap the benefits. | |
|  BrooklynZooFor Everthing Else, There's Mastercard
join:2001-04-01
Atlanta, GA | Yawn! AOL will rest in peace soon enough. I am dry cleaning my black suit to attend AOL's homegoing services. | |
|  MarkyDPremium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK | Post Whores Oilphant is a post whore, always posting uneducated replies just to see his name in print. I'm not surprised at his replies.
It's people like that, who think they know all, that ruin a perfectly good topic. Leave it to Oilphant and the others to take a crap all over a perfectly good thread with posts that originate in the nether regions.
The point is, AOL does have some pretty cool stuff. I HATE the COMPANY AOL more than anyone out there. I have a reason to, just ask anyone who heard my story. I for one hope AOL burns to the ground. However, that does not change the FACTS. The video content cannot be beat. Launch videos start with a nice little advertisement. Not to mention, the quality BLOWS. RealOne Pass or whatever it's called is $10 a month, the same price as AOL's BYOA, but with much less to offer.
AOL's radio has 175+ cd quality channels with NO commercials.
AOL has exclusive concerts, FULL SCREEN VIDEO. Not postage stamp crap.
AOL's spam filters are getting better. That is ONE area I think needs work.
The point I'm trying to make is this. AOL is a dirty company, YES. But that does not change the fact that they DO have services you cannot find anywhere else. People, get the facts straight before crapping all over a perfectly good discussion.
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Only through hard work and perseverance can one truly suffer. | |
| | | | Re: Post Whores My name looks cool. | |
| |  dvd536as Mr. Pink as they comePremium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:4 | Actually AOL's BYOA is $14.95/month. a bit more than a $10 realpass but the point is moot because REAL quality BLOWS.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth | |
| | | | | Re: Post Whores said by dvd536:
Actually AOL's BYOA is $14.95/month. a bit more than a $10 realpass but the point is moot because REAL quality BLOWS.
If you have highspeed access with another company and don't want any dial-up hours byoa is $7.95 per month. | |
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|  major marcoRes Firma Mitescere NescitPremium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA | said by MarkyD:
Oilphant is a post whore, always posting uneducated replies just to see his name in print. I'm not surprised at his replies.
It's people like that, who think they know all, that ruin a perfectly good topic. Leave it to Oilphant and the others to take a crap all over a perfectly good thread with posts that originate in the nether regions.
Heh heh. Careful you don't get gagged by the thought police for "flaming" our esteemed acquaintance.
--
A good scapegoat is almost as good as a solution.»www.digitalconsumer.org | |
| |  53059959Temp banned from BBR more then anyone
join:2002-10-02
PwnZone | omg AOL dudez0r h4x0r 1337z0r one of these gotcha haha interesting look left he got treez yo yo godl!ke uber 1337 ultra gosu h4x0r so-so margin of expertise! | |
|
 epsilon9090Lost Is AmazingPremium
join:2002-07-29
Rochester, MI | Release Date Does anybody realize that you can't even download the software yet? | |
| | | | Re: Release Date Tomorrow for winxp and win2000. | |
| | | | | Re: Release Date This is still only the preview release, not sure of the final release date. So far I think its great, but I still want the final release. They finally got their broadband plan together, its the first time I've seen cnet give great reviews on their broadband plan. Gotta love it. | |
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| epsilon9090Lost Is AmazingPremium
join:2002-07-29
Rochester, MI | OK, thanks. | |
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| | Cant wait I'm dieing to try it out. Been waiting for a month, bring it on!! | |
| uvacow
join:2002-09-02
Charlottesville, VA | have been using 9.0 (optimized) for a few months now, and will say it is another step in the right direction for AOL. If you do not like AOL, anything I say in this post will not change your mind.
For the rest of you interested in the conversation, here is my impression. Starting with AOL PLUs for broadband, I have seen immense value in the AOL Service. I have been using BYOA for about 4 years now, and am finally get my $$ worth (outside of the rest of my family still uses plain aol). The content is great. Don't even try to say otherwise.
SPAM filtering has improved greatly. If you had been involved with the testing that has been going on for the past year, you would realize that spam is one of their number 1 priorities right now. It has gotten to the point where I get MORE SPAM from my broadband acct. then I do for my AOL acct (and if i ever have to give out an email, it is only the aol one). So don't tell me the spam is rediculous.
As mentioned before, the content is by far the best in the industry, the combination with time-warner will assure that.
As for Tech support, I do not use them. Yes, it is subpar, but from my perspective, ALL tech support is subpar. If I can't fix something myself, no one on the other end of the phone will be able to. And I can gurantee you that.
And if you don't like the "bloatware", use aol to connect, then just use an external MOZILLA or whatever you want.
BYOA is well worth the 10 dollars AOL charges, and if you do not agree, YOU ARE wrong. If you do not want the content, then don't get it. But the content is by far worth the value (and after using AOL for over 8 years, the past 5 months have been the first time I can say that).
If you wanna step off your high horse long enough, go give AOL another try.
And good luck to everyone when you get Optimized. You will be busy for hours with all the new content.
cow | |
| | | | Re: have been using 9.0 (optimized) I think aol has gotten alot better. Good pop-up blocker good free firewall, and the spam features work also. I have byoa account and it's just as fast as my regular browzer. Plus you can't beat SLINGO!!! [ha ha ha]. Most of the people who have not tried it since 8.0 plus just don't have a clue. Be smug in your ignorance
Mr. Natural
I also have been online longer than most. | |
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 rcdiverPremium
join:2000-12-13
Monessen, PA | A fart any any other version number still smells the same... | |
| | | | Re: A fart any any other version number What a pleasant thought... u sound like an aol user | |
| | | rcdiverPremium
join:2000-12-13
Monessen, PA | Re: A fart by any other version number It was supposed to be a spin on the adage "a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet" but apparently didn't go over well, not to mention the typo on the subject line.
So let me explain, taking the same crap (a fart) and calling it 9.0 (another version) would still be AOL (and stink). Got it now?
And no, I haven't used AOL in over 10 years | |
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 Neophyte101All Your E-Mail Are Belong To Us
join:2002-01-02
Deep River, CT
| AOL Just Plain Sucks Until AOL stops charging $23.90 a month (sometimes upwards of $30) for friggin' 56k dial-up access, they will never stop losing subscribers. Their client is crap. Their service is horrible. Oh, and they also outsource just about all of their "technical support" (if you want to call it that) to people from India who you can't even understand. Not to mention the backdoors built into their clients... but if you feel "safe" with your computer wide open to any AOL tech with a grudge, by all means stay with AOL - you deserve each other.
[text was edited by author 2003-07-31 23:31:53] | |
|  NunyaBidnessGod Bless All Of UsPremium
join:2001-05-25
Memphis, TN | hrm well after all the horror stories I have heard and read about aol, I vowed that I would never use it.
I've always used the cd cases as a weeed case/rolling tray.
I do how ever have an open mind, if aol has actually improved that much and has that much content I just may hafta give it a shot.
they gonna hafta offer me a free trial though, cause I will NOT spend any money on it without trying it first for free.
--
Nunya Bidness | |
| | | Aol just plain sucks
Aol is not an ISP Aol is an online service.
I will never use AOl.
Only losers use Aol. | |
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