

What happens when AOL finally decides to go private? - nbj914
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/09/what-happens-when-aol-finally-decides-to-go-private/244426/

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billybob
"Google could pick up AOL Mail and AIM, maybe MapQuest, incorporating them
into existing assets. Microsoft might even put in a bid."

Really? Why on earth would Google want AOL Mail? I can't imagine that they
want the code, and the users don't sound attractive, either.

"We've built the best, fastest, smartest, most customizable web mail service
on the planet. Now where can we get some users who haven't bothered to move
off dial-up? They probably won't send all-caps emails to our support people or
anything, right?"

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sp332
There are only a few thousand dial-up users left on AOL. I know it's hard to
imagine, but there are a lot of people with high-speed broadband connections
who download the AOL software for the email and web browser. _shudder_

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ansy
AOL Mail, AIM, MapQuest and other odd services seem like a good fit for IAC
[1]. Really, IAC might be able to buy the whole lot and rebrand itself as the
new AOL. Barry Diller seems to have figured out how to efficiently run a
hodgepodge of unrelated internet content providers and services as unglamorous
as Ask.com and Match.com while AOL has failed with arguably better properties.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAC_(company)>

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dethstarr
AOL is so irrelevant, I can't believe that they still are in business.

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nbj914
What are the other interesting parts of AOL that could get sold off as pieces?

