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Time Warner Considering Demerging with AOL
Gracenotes writes "According to the Daily Telegraph, America Online CEO Jonathan Miller notes that AOL might be successful enough to break away from Time Warner and still remain in business. According to Miller, AOL is providing many online services, which provide competition against Google, Yahoo, and other rivals. Since its merger with Time Warner and plummet in value, such features have been increasingly emphasized."
The same services that can be had for five dollars in full metal jacket. Sucky Sucky.
Hell is other people - Jean-Paul Sartre
yes... that "might"... that means they might NOT be able to stay in business. HURRAY!
http://brandonbloom.name
from TFA... ""I don't believe there is a scenario whereby we could have an independent AOL." Successful enough to break away? Thats not how I read it!
AOL just cut 1400 jobs in Arizona and New Mexico. Not only that, but in another interesting story -
...
Internet service provider AOL's sales may shrink for the next two years as it gives away services to win more users and attract advertising, its chief executive said in an interview published on Saturday.
"Maybe another two years, you are right there," Jonathan Miller said when asked by German newspaper Die Welt whether sales would continue to fall. "But it's about profitability for us in this phase."
In recent weeks, AOL has sold its Internet access units in Germany, France and Britain for a total of almost US$2 billion as it reshapes itself into a free Web portal where popular email and entertainment services are supported by advertising.
The only, ONLY thing holding AOL still together are people who are less internet savvy and those who cling to AOL email addresses for their lives (certain professionals, businesspeople, et al). Creating a successful and large advertising group sounds like it'd be tricky in such a large market. Most people think of AOL the ISP or the portal than the advertising giant.
Finally, it should be noted that AOL spokesman John Buckley said "Time Warner ``is not considering a sale or demerger,'"
My MythTV HowTo
AOL is competing with Google and Yahoo? I guess in the sense that a one-legged horse with rabies is competing in the Kentucky Derbie, that might be accurate... if the horse is also dead.
AOL: Hi this is AOL, how can we help you?
TimeW: Well, I'd like to cancel my service
AOL: sorry to hear that, can we offer you our high speed internet services?
TimeW: No, thats ok.. I just want to cancel the account, I'm not a n00b anymore.
AOL: have you tried our great new chatting shizz?
TimeW: look, I want to quit, do it now plz kthx
AOL: I"m having a hard time understanding exactly what you want me to do?
(insert 9 more minutes of infuriating banter here)
anyway.. Time Warner knows they have a dinosaur on their hands.
Time Warner Exec: Okay, it's decided. We're going to demerge with you.
AOL Exec: Really? Why do you want to demerge with us?
TW: I guess you weren't as profitable as we hoped.
AOL: Well, if I could offer you 10,000 free AOL shares would you consider not demerging?
TW: Look, it's a done deal. We're demerging. Just do it.
AOL: Really? You're sure I can't change your mind?
TW: We're demerging, dammit!
AOL: Let me put you onto my manager.
TW: Hey, wait, I just want to demerge *transfer*
AOL VP: So, sir. I gather you're thinking of demerging. Are you aware of the many benefits being merged with AOL offers.
TW: JESUS CHRIST! Just Dememerge already?
AOL VP: Okay, sir, just let me put you through to our demerging department.
*click*
TW: Hello? Hello? Fuckers! They hung up on me!
"The only, ONLY thing holding AOL still together are people who are less internet savvy"
My uncle swears that AOL's browser is WAY better than MSIE, Netscape, or Opera (I've had him use all of them over trying to find one he can use). AOL works and the others never do - including allowing him to login to e-bay and page rendering. I wouldn't say "internet savvy" as much as "computer savvy".
He dropped DSL to go back to dial up because it was too "hard" to add a new e-mail through the browser - he needed AOL. I'm not real sure how he is taking the change. I know he is happy to be back in the fold, but I still hear him say he is going to go do something tonight that I know dial-up will never do (for instance, download and burn a DVD - good luck getting that done in a few hours on dial-up even though he swears it works fine). I think there is a certain amount of pride that will not allow him to say I am correct - I know he didn't download a 200+ meg file in the last 15 minutes on dial-up regardless of what he tells me.
*shrug*. I can not really understand being that clueless on anything. While there are many many many things I know nothing about I tend to either a) trust those that are experts and do as they say (and not argue with them) or b) learn enough to do it myself. Option A isn't a big deal - there are too many things out there to know enough about (for instance, I depend on a car mechanic even though I *could* learn to do it on my own - I just do not have the time to do so and I do not enjoy working on a vehicle). Though even then I try and learn *something* about any thing I use daily/weekly, enough so that I can somewhat tell if someone is trying to rip me off or enough so that I can converse/understand what the experts tell me is wrong.
There is obviously a market for those types of people. While my uncle is one of the worst I know, he still is not that unique. And I do not think they will ever really advance, they do not want too.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
Oh, cmon. It's much better to see them die slowly and painfully than not stay in business.
Besides, my frisbee supply is running low.