Slashdot Mirror
AOL Not Alone In Subscriber Decline
E-Rock-23 writes "Our registration-hungry friends at the New York Times are running this article with a few more details on the AOL Subscriber Decline, covered in a recent /. post. And it looks like they aren't alone, as Earthlink and MSN are experiencing similar troubles. The article cites a major reason being that users "are buying broadband services offered by cable and telephone companies." Looks like broadband is finally gaining some significant ground with home users..."
I work for a small, privatly owned ISP. I do see alot of our older dial up customers going over the broadband, but more and more, they are cancelling because of lack of money. Even at around $20 a month or so many people see internet access as something extra not something they need.
Maybe this tred will turn around but I doubt it. Even if these customers do get back on firm ground, I see them going with broadband via cable, phone company, or even the electric company long before comming back to a dial up.
It's not so much that people are idiots, though that is often true. A few people I work with have gone to broadband in the last year or so, but didn't want to give up the email addresses they've been using for the last six or seven years. I couldn't justify $25 a month for ONE email address (I pay $15 a month for hosting that comes with unlimited addresses) but that's a personal choice, I guess...
do not read this line twice.
Actually, I bet in this case they're moving from AOL/MSN to Netzero/Juno/etc. that are only $10 a month for basically the same service.
Vote for Pedro