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I hate to admit it, but AOL was my first on-line experience as well.     I dumped the account when they went to the flat billing system, after which the service went downhill.

Yeah, a regular ISP, whether you use Dial-up, DSL, or Cable, is so much better, simply because you choose your own apps, and you control it.

Seriously how the hell can AOL actually lose money. With several millions people paying $23 per month, add in all the ads they sell and it just doesn't make sense.

I'll take a guess: The top brass at AOL lives very well, with salaries and goodie packages well into the millions. I understand that Steve Cases's severance package was over 50 million, and that he walked with a lot of perks.  As the executives leave, they'll all walk with amounts of money which are beyond the imagination of most. 

Do I guess Well?

The scariest prospect is the number of twelve year olds, bringing their "AOL Speak" and "age / Gender checks"  to the real internet!  No!  Please NO!

Having been in a few discussions with you, I must say:

I like the way you think. With your brain. Keep it up. 

There was a way to get a free connection through AOL a while back. Not that 1000 free hours deal, and this was before you could get on without a credit card. When you first sign on at one point it'll ask for your name, etc..., just put in whatever. Then it will ask for credit card info. At this point you're connected. It really worked, most of the time. It was just to hold me until I got broadband.

I see no reason one should be ashamed of using AOL anymore than one should be ashamed of having to go through childhood. AOL is fantastic for beginners who are just getting their feet wet.  I began my own learning experience with BBS's at first. I then moved on to national online services which consisted of Genie, Prodigy, and finally AOL. When my small rural town got their first ISP I continued with AOL for awhile until Netscape and the World Wide Web became available. Each stage was a valuable learning experience that I do not regret.

Having been in a few discussions with you, I must say:

I like the way you think. With your brain. Keep it up. 

Well thanks Temetka. I get flamed on occasion for the way I think, but that's just the way it is.  Most people accuse me of being too cynical.

It just seems to me there is something very wrong when a company has all these high powered hot shots, drawing enormous salaries and perks, then that company pays them millions in more perks and severance when they fail on the job, or get "bought out".   I must ask who is getting what out of AOL time/warner.

Another example:  Robert Shields, former CEO of Computervision.  Shields was the number two man at digital equipment for a long time. He was paid millions to leave Digital, before heading to computervision.

What happened: He had it written into his contract that if computervision terminated him before his fifth anniversary, for any reason, they had to pay him five million bucks, and other goodies, such as fully paid medical for seven years.

Computervision tanked under his "leadership", and he walked away the dough.  I think the company still exists in some form, at least as a name.  How I know this:  I knew several people at the company, and I went to the "layoff party" at the 99 restaurant when the ax fell.

So, what's wrong with this picture?

What bugs is that most people see absolutely wrong with stuff like this. "Oh they were a high ranking executive. They DESERVE to be compensated". Or some other moronic line.

Hello? Weren't they receiving a paycheck? Some people however are unable to accept certain facts. Corporate greed runs rampant and we have stock option millionaires floating from company to company without really contributing much that proved fruitful to the company at large.

What's even worse is that most of these people fly under the radar and get away with it. Thus the income gap grows ever wider and the corporate elite maintain their power over the masses.

My AOL experience was thankfully brief.  My family had a Performa at the time, so it is also thankfully distant.

My AOL experience was thankfully brief.  My family had a Performa at the time, so it is also thankfully distant.

I had AOL with my Performa as well.  It was my first taste of the internet.

Me too.  At the time I thought that AOL was the same thing as the internet.

My goodness, how far I've come.