

Did Google Just Turn Apple Into The New AOL? - mikecane
http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/did-google-just-turn-apple-into-the-new-aol/

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GiraffeNecktie
The way I remember it, Prodigy killed CompuServe and AOL killed Prodigy.

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gatlin
> AOL killed CompuServe. The Internet killed AOL.

I remember quite distinctly that AOL connected me to the Internet. I may be
misunderstanding the article though.

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gpjt
AOL was originally a closed bulletin-board system, unconnected to the
Internet. They had chat rooms, games, and lots of other good stuff, and could
charge quite a lot, especially because -- as the largest of a number of closed
networks -- you could communicate with more people more easily there than you
could on, say CompuServe.

Then, as the Internet became more widely used, AOL had to connect to it, and
increase their integration with it. Generally-accessible Internet services
become more compelling for AOL users than the closed AOL services, so were
less willing to pay a premium for AOL, decreasing their profits. Eventually
people started seeing it as just another ISP, and their original value-add was
eroded -- hence their decline.

So yes, the Internet killed AOL. An open system where anyone could connect and
start running any kind of service they liked killed a closed system where only
the owner was allowed to say what people could do.

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gatlin
Two week old thread is stale, but regardless: thanks for the information; I'm
young enough that AOL was already in the "just an ISP" stage by the time I was
subject to it.

