This will nearly double the times that Windows crashes a day! Soon they'll buy British Petroleum and OPEC and you won't be able to afford a system that pollutes and crashes two or three dozen times a day!

You're right. Let's see what Taw has to say, he hates AOL. His comments should be loud, violent, and fun!

OMG!!! aol is the worst thing ever!!! i hate it soooo much!! them and their damn rip off internet with so called "pop up stopper" i bet it makes more pop ups...POP UP!! i cant wait until AOL takes the wrong turn and get their asses sued off!!

*i removed the chain letter from my sig*

Since Time/Warner owns AOL,it would have to be a lot of money. But, MS would be NUTS to want AOL.

Michael "Finalday"
In Memory Of WLB

Keep it civil folks...bashing is still bashing regardless of the victim.

Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Creator of the original Privateer FAQ
4+ years here and still lovin' every minute!
Favorite saying - Life is a journey, not a destination

AOL is one of those companies that has a semi-monopoly. It tell's people about how easy it is to use their service when in reality all you need is a connection and IE. I have Wide Open West and there's no homepage, no special services, just a nice connection. AOL has so much stuff that isn't necessary that it crashes like a bumper car driven by a blind alcoholic under sleep medication.

I civilized it a bit, but I'm still gonna leave the bumper car analogy if it doesn't bother the mods. Can I?



Edited by - Eh_Steve on 3/21/2004 5:11:40 PM

lol i like that steve

*i removed the chain letter from my sig*

MS probably will buy AOL. Time Warner is anxious to rid itself of the sham of a money maker that AOL pretended to be.

MS, on the other hand benefits as it will gain all the members it has been trying to win over with MSN all these years. AND they extinguish Netscape in the process. This would be sweet revenge for MS after the antitrust suit it had to settle and the testimony presented against MS by Netscape's top execs.

At that point, MS wil lhave realized its goal of being the biggest ISP having more than doubled the size of MSN with the addition of AOL members.

I would hope that someone in the FTC or Justice Department will question the healthiness of this move but given past performances, it would be asking for too much.

Fight Like Warlord

hmm - I was under the impression that AOL bought Time Warner, not the other way round.

AOL is functional, and for the middle age housewife, its perfect. Its easy to use, and has tons of stuff. Must admit, i don't really mind who supplies it, but since AOL gave me the cheapest Broadband internet going, i won't complain. Its only 9 months later that others are starting to make nice offers too.........

For a long time their 15.99 a month unlimited connection was the best deal around, and it almost still is for dial up. Now others have offered the same, but AOL still gives a cheaper deal than BT and others. Tiscali filled you with spam, spyware and cost a fortune, and whilst AOL is no saint either in some departments, they have offered good service to me for a 20 quid a month deal for 24/7 unlimited broadband. Everything else was 34 quid a month - so that was quite a deal.

Its easy to bash AOL, but honestly, BT is more expensive/less reliable, and Tiscali is just crap. I have not had a problem with AOL to put it mildly, their is good customer service support, and i don't have a complaint. At one point i was losing my connection alot, but it only ever happened whilst using Overnet, so not sure what that is about, but without overnet = no crash in two weeks. I have never had a problem with AOL at all, have no complaints, and although i am not really interested with features, for money they offer the best for reliablity, support and options

Now - that is from a 2 year customer, and I laugh when poeple bash them without ever being a customer................

Yes - i have used Tiscali, and got rid of it VERY quickly.
Yes - my mother tried BT, and they hated it.......lousey service.

If Microsoft buy AOL? Doubt it would be allowed..........their are stratedgies in place - just like the largest Oil companies aren't allowed to "merger" with each other, i doubt this would be allowed either......monopolisation or just global hyper super mega company......either way....

I agree Chips, I doubt that MS will be allowed to. Still, they have a lot of money, and it "talks" as they say.

if m$ bought a car company, you would have a car that ran on a thimble full of fuel, but the car would crash at least 3 times a day

I happen to think that MS and AOL are absolutely perfect for each other, and the AOL browser should be fully integrated into XP Home Edition.

LOL

Leave it to you to skewer the sacred cow Taw.

@Chips

That's right, sort of. Steve Case led the charge for AOL to merge with Time Warner as the bigger partner based upon market capitalization value. That market capitalization value, however, was driven by pumped up sales and membership numbers by some clever AOL book cookers. Once the house of cards came tumbling down, basically, it was the Time Warner side that kept the corporation afloat and, at this point, the survivors want to cut the dead albatross that is AOL off and not have it hanging around their necks any more.

Were they less upset at the deceit, they might think to resuscitate it but so many Time Warnerites got burned by the AOL merger that I think they cannot wait to get rid of it.

Fight Like Warlord

what'll they call it, MOL