AOL Reports First Drop in Subscribers

AP ^ | February 3, 2003 | JIM KRANE

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I keep a cheapie "side" aol account because it has an email box that I've had for years, and don't feel like dumping (besides, its OK to have as a backup dialup for when the laptop is on the road or the cable modem is down).

Anytime I've booted it up, it has been a major system hog. Most inefficient coding I've ever seen.

[OldPossum]

I left them years ago once I realized who they were. Why feed your enemies?

Now, I get my service from a small local outfit which likely has no political leanings. And I get it for 40% of AOL's rate. How sweet it is.

[Taxman]

Who is your provider? Enquiring minds want to know.

[Cicero]

I also have the cheapie account, because my kids all want to talk to their friends using AIM. It's a nuisance, because when I come into my study after they've been using the computer, as often as not AOL has managed to bring on a Blue Screen of Death--which I never get otherwise. But as long as most of my kids' friends use AOL, my kids will want to use it too.

[Vinnie]

I got tired of getting kicked off and not being able to connect. Switched to Mindspring (Earthlink now). I was very happy with their service, excellent customer service.

I went with cable a few years ago, Time- Warner specifically. Now Earthlink is offering cable and I might switch.

Oh, If you ever quit AOL, BE SURE TO GET THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU TALK TO AND THE CANCELLATION NUMBER , because, I promise, you will end up fighting with them about next month's charges.

[zeugma]

All I can say is "Praise The Lord".

I remember when AOLers first invaded the internet. It's been downhill ever since.

[lawdude]

I built a 4 bedroom house from unwanted AOL disks!

[Indy Pendance]

I have heard they make good drink coasters. I remember the first time I tried aol, I must have waited forever for 'waiting for artwork to load' or something like that, on a 9600 baud modem. That lasted about a week. OK, I tried it, no thanks. But then, they insist on forcing it on you in just about every other software application.

[mombonn]

I can't wait for the day my employer loses AOL. I get the ugliest spam mails offers, it takes FOREVER to do certain tasks.

I have ATT broadband at home, and now that they finally have their act together, I couldn't be happier. A year ago, I wouldn't have said that.

[tobesmom]

I also have the cheapie account, because my kids all want to talk to their friends using AIM

You don't need to subscribe to AOL to have that feature. My kids use it too, you can dowload it independent of AOL.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

100% correct bump.

[Taxman]

I don't like ANYTHING about AOL-Time Warner. Not worth a cup of warm spit!

[babaloo]

I dropped AOL for cable service in November. The spam email has stopped and there are no interruptions in service. With AOL I got tons of spam including the most vile stuff you can imagine. It was so bad that when my parents visit I make sure they were not in my office when I checked my email so they would not be subjected to the hideous stuff. Further, I no longer have to restart the service multiple times a day after getting disconnected. An added benefit is that I am no longer paying those lefties $250.00 plus a year.

[PLMerite]

When I quit AOHell some years back I timed it for when my credit card date would expire. They said I owed them another month's fee and wanted the new expiration date.

I sent 'em a check.

[TroutStalker]

The chart in this article shows the drop in new subscribers:

America Online Faces Threat From Cheap Dial-Up Services

[Afronaut]

It still amazes me that people still think that the Internet is the AOL front end. Click on the No-Thanks a thousand times and one should learn that they offer nothing but a another way to get credit cards.

[hattend]

You can use AIM without AOL.

signed MongoCombatGuy (AIM) using a satellite internet provider.