AOL Dumping Some Broadband

unsupported writes "Just days after news that AOL will be breaking up into 4 business units, AOL is telling existing broadband customers in 9 Southern states to find a new carrier. This news comes after AOL stopped selling broadband services earlier this year. AOL plans a similar phase out of existing broadband customers for the rest of the country over the next year."

Comments

Has to be said

[TheRealMindChild]

We all generally have the opinion that AOL is "Evil", but if I had to list ONE GOOD THING about them, it would be that even if I am in Antarctica, I could get a dialup provider via AOL. I think that is the reason for a LOT of their original customer base. When people move to broadband, they probably find that AOL isnt the "internet", and simply leave. It lost its appeal, so this is just AOL going back to doing the one thing they are good for.

Re:Has to be said

[dead sun]

I think they just know their customers really well. They're the people who do believe that AOL is the "internet". They're the people who need things spelled out for them in really simple terms. They are not the tech-elite that would really make use of broadband.

AOL is famous for their little "You've got mail" noise. They're well known for AIM, which has an impressive userbase for something that seems to be lagging behind other protocols.

They have (or had, I've never subscribed personally) AOL keywords so people don't have to search the web to get information, you just dumped in a sanctioned term and up popped info. There weren't these .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, and everything else for the tech illiterate to become accustomed to.

So what did AOL always offer? Mail, messenger, some info, and eventually a stepping stone to a larger world. I don't think the average AOL user has much need for broadband. I think once you're ready for broadband you're probably ready to let go of AOL's hand.

AOL is good for beginners and as you said, widely available access. As that larger world they offer a stepping stone to becomes more media rich they'll lose more customers because it's unaccessable on 56k. But at that point, AOL offering broadband for their core services is overkill too. There's no value to broadband through AOL unless you're using that outside world. But if you're heavily using the outside world, there's little value to AOL. On the other hand, those who don't care about the web at large may be just fine with AOL dialup.

Doesnt make sense

[conrius]

With everybody preferring broadband over dial up , it seems suicidal to give up all capability in broadband, split and concentrate more on dial up !! Shouldnt AOL being doing things the other way round and try to build up presence in broadband market ?

How in the world did AOL blow this one?

[lpangelrob2]

Wow. It seemed like a partnership that could've been good... AOL had 23 million subscribers, Time-Warner has a godawful amount of content. Broadband was just getting started, and they had a large set of customers they could've introduced to Time Warner's content, provided at discount prices... heck, they didn't even have to provide the broadband pipe itself.

WTF? Who blew it?

Regardless of what people say about the economy, there's a lot of disposable income out there. Surely they could've sold a broadband content service to other people at a bargain, and become the dominant provider like they were for dial-up. Now all that's left is dial-up, fading away...

I guess maybe AOL should get used to finding its home in the lower-middle class bracket... too bad they coulda been a contender elsewhere.

Open Letter To AOL

[Dracos]

Dear AOL,

As I stated to your telemarketing rep who called me last week, I have DSL and no need for your "value added" content and/or advertising. Also, let me repeat what I said to her to close the conversation: AOL, aside from SCO, is the laughing stock of the IT industry. Every decision you make is simply stupid.

These comments are a result of my being offended by your "Help us make the internet better" ad campaign, which caters to your notoriously unsavvy user base. Here is how you can accomplish this:

1. Use your assets against your enemies, instead of using their assets against yourself. What sense is there in basing your browser on a competitor's? You own Netscape: Make it grand again.
2. Speaking of Netscape, stop trashing it. Netscape means browser, not web portal, not cheap ISP, not kitchen sink.
3. Realize why users are leaving in droves: Broadband is killing dialup; your users, as they graduate from internet preschool, don't need your handholding anymore; your pricing model is several years out of date, outrageously high.

The only sensible thing you have done in the past 5 years is seed the Mozilla Foundation. Somehow you managed not to stifle the entire project.