{"id":7062,"date":"2004-11-04T08:34:37","date_gmt":"2004-11-04T15:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/11\/04\/the-way-of-the-dinosaurs.html"},"modified":"2004-11-04T08:34:37","modified_gmt":"2004-11-04T15:34:37","slug":"the_way_of_the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/11\/04\/the_way_of_the.html","title":{"rendered":"The way of the dinosaurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

AOL<\/a> seems to be in a long, downward spiral.<\/p>\n

AOL, a unit of media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., has lost millions of subscribers to lower-cost rivals and higher-speed cable and telephone Internet services over the past few years.<\/p>\n

In order to meet double-digit profit growth goals, AOL has trimmed its network costs over the past two years in the face of no revenue growth. The source said most of the job cuts would be made at AOL?s Dulles, Virginia, headquarters. About 5,000 of AOL?s 13,000 U.S. employees are based at Dulles. AOL cut 850 jobs in 2003.<\/p>\n

While they can cut service further to keep the margins up, that can only work so long. AOL’s selling point has always been a relatively inexpensive and user-friendly online experience. But various factors seem to me to be working against them, in the long run:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Plenty of much-lower-cost ISPs out there.\n
  2. Dial-up just ain’t cutting it any longer. Sure, you can get AOL for broadband, but it’s an added cost (see above).\n
  3. The population is getting more Net-savvy, making AOL’s hand-holding a lot less necessary.\n
  4. Plenty of portals out there, making AOL’s portal a lot less unique of a product.<\/ol>\n

    So folks don’t need the user-friendly part, don’t need the cost, and don’t want the slow access. AOL doesn’t have all that much more to offer, except ways to frell up your PC. The synergy between AOL and the rest of Time Warner never really materialized, and seems unlikely to now. Unless AOL’s execs can think of something extremely clever to do (beyond sending out a zillion more install CDs), I’d expect to see AOL spun off within the next year or two, and extinct within a few years after that.<\/p>\n

    (via Les<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    AOL seems to be in a long, downward spiral. AOL, a unit of media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., has lost millions of subscribers to lower-cost rivals and higher-speed cable and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hi-tech"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133206,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/04\/04\/no-more-yahoo-or-aol-just-oath.html","url_meta":{"origin":7062,"position":0},"title":"No more "Yahoo" or "AOL" — just … "Oath"?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 4-Apr-17 7:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"Of corporate branding there is no understanding. I can certainly appreciate Verizon deciding to file off the \"Yahoo\" name from the assets it's in the process of acquiring, and doing the same for the old \"AOL\" bits it previously acquired -- but \"Oath\"? I really wish I'd been sitting in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9378,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/19\/aol_retention_m.html","url_meta":{"origin":7062,"position":1},"title":"AOL Retention Manual","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Jul-06 6:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"This is priceless -- a leaked copy of the manual AOL gives its staff on how to retain customers that call up to cancel their service. Now, AOL certainly has...","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1338,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/01\/22\/what_is_the_sou.html","url_meta":{"origin":7062,"position":2},"title":"What is the sound of the other shoe dropping?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 22-Jan-02 8:05pm","format":false,"excerpt":"AOL Time Warner has filed suit against Micro$oft, seeking damages for its illegal monopolistic practices and the damage it did to Netscape (which AOL bought back in '99). Since the...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8860,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/03\/aol_is_un_ameri.html","url_meta":{"origin":7062,"position":3},"title":"AOL is Un-American","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Apr-06 11:17pm","format":false,"excerpt":"At least to the extent of changing its name. AOL is no longer short for the company, \"America Online.\" It now is \"AOL.\" In an expected move, Time Warner Inc.\u2019s...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7408,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/03\/14\/having_it_both.html","url_meta":{"origin":7062,"position":4},"title":"Having it both ways","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 14-Mar-05 6:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"If, in fact, the new AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) Terms of Service (TOS) include some privacy-busting clauses like ... ... by posting Content on an AIM Product, you grant AOL,...","rel":"","context":"In "Media Moguls"","block_context":{"text":"Media Moguls","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-moguls"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2024,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/03\/25\/so_easy_to_use.html","url_meta":{"origin":7062,"position":5},"title":"So easy to use, no wonder it’s Number 1!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 25-Mar-02 3:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"When AOL merged with Time-Warner, everyone in the conglomerate's various divisions was told they had to use AOL for their business e-mail. 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