

Is Facebook Becoming the New AOL? - buckpost
http://www.markevanstech.com/2010/11/27/is-facebook-the-new-aol/

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jballanc
I think this is a classic example of hacker (or tech-savy types in general)
having a very different experience than the rest of the population. For
example, do you know when more households had DVD players than had VCRs? If
you said Q3 2006, you win! ([http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nielsen-
study-shows-...](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nielsen-study-shows-
dvd-players-surpass-vcrs-57201447.html))

If you're the typical tech-savy type, that fact probably seems rather
unbelievable. Almost as unbelievable as the idea that most people _stuck_ with
AOL precisely _for_ the walled garden. I mean, it make sense...Facebook's rise
is because of, not in spite of, AOL's decline. Same as the iTunes App Store is
more successful than the Android store (never mind the handsets, the app store
contest still seems to be a very one-sided ordeal).

AOL's big flaw was that they _thought_ their major offering was a dial-up
internet connection. What they didn't see was that their main product was
actually just the walled garden internet experience that _most_ people (i.e.
not the tech savvy types) were looking for. If they had realized that, then
AOL could have been the Facebook of today. So, in a way...I guess Facebook is
becoming the new AOL, but that's probably not a bad thing!

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tewks
"In the end, AOL’s walled garden became irrelevant as people discovered the
Web had so much more to offer than the limited view offered by AOL."

This analysis is totally off the mark.

What killed AOL largely was its inability to provide broadband to American
consumers. The phone and cable companies cut them off. This was before
multiple DSL providers were available at a given address.

If AOL had the means to provide broadband nationwide, this could have turned
out totally differently.

Obviously, this point in history does not apply to facebook, thus it is harder
to imagine such an impetus that would cause users to leave the service in
droves.

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cousinlarry
The app store is the new aol

