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AOL to Launch Discount "Netscape" Internet Service

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the nothing-left-but-brand-recognition dept.

BigJimSlade writes "AOL is planning to launch a discounted internet service. The service will have less of the 'extras' that AOL users are used to, but will only cost $9.95 a month. In a move to cash-in on name recognition, AOL will be naming this service 'Netscape'."

9 of 358 comments (clear)

  1. Get on the Netscape by _Splat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Great, now we'll have even more clueless people who want to "Get on Netscape" while referring to connecting to the internet.

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    -Splat
  2. They've already tried this in the UK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    America Online ran a Netscape-branded ISP in the UK from 1999 to 2002. It was called Netscape Online, and the CD did actually come with Netscape Communicator. The ISP was subscription-free with users only to paying for the dial-up phone calls (this 'pay as you go' model of Internet access was popular in the UK at the time).

    They shut it a little over a year ago and offered to 'upgrade' all subscribers to AOL. By this time, the pay as you go model was rather outdated, with flat-rate services and broadband becoming more popular.

    Netscape Online launches: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_fi le/428621.stm

    Netscape Online closes: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/24532 .html

  3. just let it die with dignety!!! by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2, Interesting

    please AOL, stop this....just let netscape die so we can remember it as a good company who helped start the internet revolution.

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    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
  4. Netscape by Phroggy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What I want to know is, will they ship the Netscape 7 browser to subscribers, ship a Netscape-branded hack of Internet Explorer with the home page set to netscape.com, or provide no extra software at all?

    This could be a nightmare for tech support. You have no idea how many times I've had people tell me their web browser or Internet Service Provider was Yahoo, because that's what their home page was set to.

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  5. TW needs to kill AOL in deed as well as name by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is desperate ploy to bring back some of the luster to the DOA dial-up service they have been slowly burying for some time. Parsons should just fess up and admit he wants to run a media business without the distraction of an ultra-low-maring connectivity dinosaur. This would in effect completely undo the TW/AOL merger - a move most shareholders would welcome, now that it is understood and accepted that all the merger did was vaporize shareholder wealth.

  6. Tabbed Browsing for the masses! by revividus · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If they include Netscape 7 as the default browser, maybe Mom and Pop will get used to tabs (if they realize they exist), and actually realize how backward IE is becoming...

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    philcrissman.com.

  7. Re:ONLY $9.95 per month? by W2k · · Score: 2, Interesting

    *cough*

    Okay, so I forgot to include the fact that your AOL's $10/month is actually flatrate, no per-minute charges, making it cheaper than our $3/mo + $1-2/hr for anyone who uses the Internet more than only very little (<6 hrs per month, was it?)

    I apologize for my mistake. Good thing I have lots of karma points to burn.

    --
    Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.
  8. Re:Netscape by _xeno_ · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It's probably going to be an IE-based browser. Take a peak at www.netscape.com. Imagine you've never heard of Netscape before and try and figure out what Netscape is. It appears to be some kind of crappy portal like MSN or even Yahoo, which is what this service would probably center around.

    But based on "the Netscape service would be a smaller download" I have to assume that it would be a Netscape-branded Internet Explorer that users would use. Just imagine... "Internet Explorer powered by Netscape" as the IE window title...

    This is going to cause so many support headaches, no matter what they do. I really hope they name it something distinct, but I bet you the real thought was to tie it into Netscape the portal and not Netscape the browser.

    This is almost causing headaches without thinking about it... "What browser do you use?" "Netscape." "Is that the browser Netscape, the Netscape homepage, or the Netscape service?" I really hope they change the name... so confusing...

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    You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  9. UK already did it years ago - "Netscape Online" by rklrkl · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The UK had a Netscape-branded ISP years ago - its portal is still, surprisingly, available and I even have the Netscape Online ISP CD I picked up from a branch of Woolworth (probably the only ISP CD at that time that came with Netscape [4.X] instead of IE !). I have no idea if you can still sign up for Netscape Online in the UK - anyone got any ideas (the portal gives no clue)? I reckon you'll just sign up with AOL if you tried that old CD now :-)