Poll: Nearly 60 Pct of Web Surfers Plan to Quit AOL

Reuters ^ | May 21,2002 12:20 PM ET | Reuters

[RAT Patrol]

Count me among those who plan to leave AOL soon.

[Williams]

Yeah? Just try MSN. Slow email, less content, worse software. Sounds like malarky to me. according to this article 23% of those polled had already switched. Sounds like 7% more plan to, not 30%. I tried to get a $400 rebate by using MSN, and my family made me keep AOL and give up the $$.

[RayChuang88]

I left AOL a LONG time ago. I prefer a real ISP account where all I need to do to log on is just run the Internet Connection Wizard in Windows 98/ME/2000/XP to get me connected without having to use the software provided by the ISP. :-)

[RipSawyer]

I tried AOL once and had to reformat my computer to get it to work properly again. AOL is for people who simply don't know any better.

[Howlin]

I am a former user of AOL, too. However, some people have no other choice.

[Timesink]

This is one of those cases where people talk the talk, but never walk the walk. I can think of at least three friends and two relatives off the top of my head that have been planning on leaving AOL Real Soon Now for the last year and a half.

Inertia is a powerful force. I'd love to see AOL collapse, but I'm not going to bet any money on it.

[Tacis]

I use AOL on a Mac and have for years (1994?) and I am very unhappy with it. The price keeps going up and I know that they are going to try to fund some new silly adventure in M&A with another rate increase. Conect time and cut offs are still a problem. AOL content is garbage and require going through 3, 4, 5 slow loading screens to get to what they've teased me with. And, then, I get junk for months.

But, can anyone suggest a stable, relable alternative?

[Intimidator]

Just get Roadrunner and all will be well. I just switched from dial up MSN(totally wretched) and got Roadrunner(excellent).

[Phantom Lord]

I am a former user of AOL, too. However, some people have no other choice.

Who are these people and why do they have no other choice?

[Diplomat]

peoplepc.com

[Diplomat]

Tell them pfarr@peoplepc.com sent you and I get a free month. They run about $15 a month for unlimited and 2 email accounts. I go for hours without problem. It does have a small install that gives a SINGLE ad every time you log on. Nothing like the nightmare from hell called AOL.

[truth_seeker]

I have two friends who travel the world, on business. Both use AOL because of the dial-in phone numbers for AOL.

For seven years, I have used a small, local ISP. It costs me about $100 per year, if I pay for the entire year. Starting with only local access, they now have phone numbers covering much of the nation's most populous state; where I am most likely to travel. Excellent service.

If I need repair on my computer, they have repair work, at $25 per hour for their subscribers. They really do have real people, at real desks. Also, they are on Main Street, in a town known for Surfing (not the web, however).

[Cicero]

It depends where you live. If you are lucky enough to have a good broadband ISP, then AOL makes no sense.

That's why time is running against AOL. As more and more homes get cable connections, or as satellite technology improves, they will lose their monopoly position. And they haven't much else to offer, but ads.

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

It's not nicknamed "Awful Off Line" for nothing.

I tried it with my first computer and for the first 30 days (a "free" trial offer) I never once was able to connect to "the internet"! Had no problem connecting to their specials, but if you wanted to just surf, fuggetabouit!
Or as that automated twit used to say (every ten minutes!)

Good-Bye!

[Redleg Duke]

Some of us remain because our account includes parents and siblings. And frankly, there isn't a lot of difference except this...just about wherever I go, there is a local AOL access number and if not, there is an 800 number to support email.

Folks whining about AOL are usually whining about Microsoft as well. They may just be part of the great American Whinery.

[ravingnutter]

Hope you didn't put the AOL charges on your credit card...it took me 3 months to get them to stop charging the Company credit card, finally threatened them with the Corporate lawyers. Then they had the nerve to call me a few weeks later to inquire why I had not signed on in quite some time...they sure got an ear full!

[Howlin]

Believe it or not, not everybody in the world is a computer maven, like we are. Plus I bet there are places where it's the only game in town!

[ironman]

Left AOL years ago for a real ISP that would at least dial in at 45K plus. Got a "Free 3 months trial" with new machine at the beginning of the year and they started charging my credit card before the trial ran out. I went ballistic on them, terminated the service, but they wouldn't reverse the charges so I went thru my credit card company to get the charges reversed. No way AOL.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I just got broadband cable access last month, but I am keeping aol under the "bring your own access" plan until some current projects are finished in a month or so. Believe it or not, the rotten aol system still looses connections under cable! When I had dial up access, this was a major problem; now, with cable access, it is still somewhat of a problem. Surely, it is entirely the unreliability of aol now that I am connecting via cable, because when I access the web directly through Internet Explorer using cable, I never loose a "connection." Makes sense why aol was dubbed "america off line."