I am struck by the number of complaints I hear about AOL. Why do people use it? Why use a “custom” browser that causes problems, why be cut off without warning, why put up with not having your complaints addressed, etc., etc.
What am I missing? Does AOL offer stuff that I’m not aware of? What’s the problem with just subscribing to the ISP of your choice and using Netscape or IE?
Is it because people are brainwashed into thinking that they need help and ongoing guidance on managing the Internet?
BTW, does AOL, in fact, even give you access to the entire net, or does it censor stuff for you? If it does limit you, that, in itself, should be reason to avoid it.
Most people fear computers and don’t want to be involved in any technical issues. AOL works for them. Once you get a little technical savvy, you move on.
I use AOL and I’ve never experienced the problems people complain about. I did have problems with billing when they charged by the hour so I dumped it, but when they went all-you-can-eat I went back.
If I have a tech question I’ve always had help and it was fast and courteous. I think if I do get a busy signal it’s maybe once every few months but those are times I go on during the day during the busy time.
It will limit what you do only if you use parental controls. I can go on anywhere I want to. When I dumped AOL and went to another server it had less to offer than AOL did, IMO. Aol is easy. I don’t need use the computer for work, I use it for fun so it suits my needs.
I think some people are just ignorant/ill-informed.
One lady I met didn’t want to quit AOL because she thought she’d have to give up her “Buddy List”. I told her that she could chat with everyone on her “Buddy List” with AOL/Netscape Messenger, without being signed up for AOL. She did not know that.
Some people are afraid of change. AOL is the friendly old thing they’ve had for a while, God Forbid they change.
I also think that some people have had the email address for so long, it would be a big pain to change it. Or, maybe they REALLY like some of the AOL chat rooms or other AOL-exclusive features. (These to me are quite understandable reasons to stay.)
I want to make sure that I explain. I really don’t know why people use AOL. My question wasn’t rhetorical. I don’t look down on AOL users. I just don’t understand.
People talk about AOL being good if you’re computer phobic etc. I have no computer sense or knowledge (just review my posts in the area). Still, I got an ISP, got Netscape and the rest is history. And, don’t AOL users have to push the same type of icons and buttons that I do?
I used AOL for a month once, because it was free.
Absolutely hated it, had all the problems you heard about and then some. It truely sucks. I’ve used several pay isp’s and AOL was the worst. Now I use Freei and it’s 1000% better than AOL.
I think all them free AOL cd’s they send out is what get’s so many people to go to them. After they’re hooked up, well, some people just don’t like change I guess. Even if it’s for the best.
I think you have a point there, Karl. I don’t think other ISPs are all “harder” than AOL. I just think that’s the hype, and people believe it.
Take EarthLink, for instance. On their setup CD they have this friendly woman who talks you through the whole installation process. It’s super-easy. I was a computer newbie (having only had a computer for about 2 months) when I first got EarthLink. Their setup CD wasn’t nearly as “newbie friendly” back then, and I still had no problem figuring it out.
Oh, and I forgot to add, getting on the Internet, getting email, the rest of it, wasn’t any more difficult with EarthLink than with AOL. (I had been on AOL for 2 months before I got sick of it and switched.)
I’m an AOLer - I’m not proud of it.
Here are my (pathetic as they may be reasons).
I got AOL years ago, therefore I’ve had the same Email address for years, which is handy. I’ve tried a few other ISP’s and had trouble setting up extra mailboxes, one for my wife, e.g.
But I know that’s piddly and fixable. The reason I don’t change at the moment is reliant on my computer, a P.O.S. 2000. I have a barely functioning, non-Pentium, 36K-modem, 16-meg of RAM, shitbox of a computer. Nothing works right on it, and I just don’t have the patience or the motivation to scrub it and start over.
We are saving for a new computer, and as soon as we get it, I guarantee, AOL will be shit-canned forever. Then I’ll worry about informing the world of my Email address change.
Well, maybe the sterotypes true about AOL’ers, because I’m still using it and hating it, but have dredged up the IQ or energy to change.
AOL really is the pits, the complete, total pits. Talk about trouble! I couldn’t connect to AOL’s server most of Labor Day. When I finally connected, noodled around a while and signed off temporarily, it wouldn’t let me reconnect: TCP/IP incorrectly installed.
Called tech support; cretin (Rod) assured me it was a highly technical issue and unless I could provide another phone line in to help troubleshoot the problem there was nothing he could do. Tried calling again tonight; no help available, try calling later.
Tried connecting, just on the off-chance, and voila! The AOL Christian Science approach worked again, i.e. ignore it (since AOL denies the problem exists anyway) and it’ll mysteriously cure itself!
Why haven’t I switched? Pure laziness and inertia–so I probably deserve every bit of hassle and incompetence I’m getting.
What I don’t understand is how AOL got so big with its bad reputaton for service and quality? Microsoft may be evil incarnate to some, but at least the company did some things right. AOL on the other hand…
They got so big because they were the first. At least the first to offer easy access to a new and (for many) confusing arena, namely the internet. And then there’s the evil marketing types at work here too.
When I first heard of AOL, the only internetting, to coin a word, was on cheesy local BBS’s, with those crappy ASCII graphics and cumbersome menus. I don’t know how it worked in the rest of the country, but in the early ninties in Maine, that was the only thing commercially available for the internet, that ran in Windows.
I use Earthlink as my primary dial up – but forego the lame ass CD and set up DUN on my own.
I still have my AOL account, I have had it over five and a half years now and have it as a back up if Earthlink is experiencing network farts. I may as well pay the extra few bucks for a full dial up access since I already have AOL and not going to get rid of it and I need a backup to get out on the net.
There are times when finding information quickly is desired and AOL does have a lot of areas that are very detailed and you can get your answer quickly.
I have had few problems with AOL over the years I have been a member but then again I use Earthlink about 90% of the time for my internet access and have done so for over three years now.
Keep in mind, AOL is not an ISP it is considered an online content provider, which is where you get into the features they have over regular providers. Yes, there are times when their gateway to the internet chokes but that’s due to poor network design not the service its self. If I remember correctly, AOL does not filter content you view from the internet unless you have the settings set as such on the screen name in question.
Back in the days (the ones Jack Batty mentioned) when Mosaic was the state-of-the-art browser and AOL first started massive advertising I read a newsgroup post in which the poster said, “AOL is the only real internet. The rest are all illegal.” Or some such drivel.
I really wanted to comment about all the universities setting up illegal “internets”, but figured she wouldn’t understand anyway. I think this was the same person with the 25-line ASCII unicorn sig.
Stop by http://www.observers.net sometime when you’re bored. Got some really sharp people over there (and a couple of morons, too, for flavor.)
We’re mostly current and former Internals, so ya might just learn a thing or two about AOL.
TVeblen…
Feel free to drop me a line at soulfrost@innocent.com and I’ll try to help with your connection problems. I’ll need your system specs, connection method (dialup or ISP), and a detailed description of the problem.
I have used AOL for about five years. I have the road runner cable modem service that I usally use at home.
I have never had the problems with AOL that other people complain about. I can always get online, never get booted off and tech support has always been very helpful.
I am keeping my AOL account for a couple of reasons. First I travel a lot and I have never had any problems signing on AOL in another city. AOL has access numbers everywhere and they are easy to find. I know that there are other ISPs that are more national now but when I first started AOL was the best.
Also, I have had my email address forever and the idea of changing it is scary. What if I miss an email!!
My mother also uses AOL. Her primary reason for using AOL is the ease of setting up different accounts with different access rights. You can easily control what access different people in your family have to the internet. Very helpful for families with children who aren’t very computer literate and have trouble with other net nanny software.
