AOL Broadband..too Little too Late?
In an attempt to stop the bleeding AOL has partnered up with broadband providers to offer a high speed service:
AOL announced Friday it has forged partnerships with leading broadband providers to provide high-speed AOL subscription packages for just a few bucks more than dial-up. The move comes two years after AOL largely abandoned the market for such offerings.
With the new deals, consumers in much of the United States will be able to buy an AOL broadband package for about $26 a month, just two dollars more than the $24 unlimited dial-up service and far less than the $55 package AOL offered two years ago.
Will this help them slow the bleed rate? Henry Blodget thinks so:
The new rate may encourage some of the lazy cash-cow $23.90 subs who wouldn't have converted to convert, thus resulting in a near-term cash flow hit (because AOL is likely only getting a few dollars of subscription revenue share from its broadband partners, as opposed to $10 or more of operating profit from the fat-margin dial-up subs). By sacrificing some cash in the near-term, however, AOL is giving itself a better chance to survive over the long term.
I still think they have the brand image of "for newbies" that will be hard to shed no matter what they do. I think that was at the core of their marketing message for what a decade.
I also see internet access becoming generally free for most in the next couple years. Either via partnerships with sponsored search providers or local governments.
What I have never understood
and what I still do not understand is why Time Warner did not start intergrating broadband right after they bought AOL. Its not like it was hard to see that dial-up was not the place to be and its not like they did't have the resources (TW Cable etc...) to start selling and delivering broadband. Within 2-3 years the only people using dial up will be people that currently don't have running water or electricity.
Dan
nasty spammers
Or the ones who want to mingle with the crowd behind a big proxy IP ;-)
the part I don't understand
the part I don't understand is the idea of declining AOL subscriber base. I didn't think it was possible to cancel once in AOL (?)
I didn't think it was
Years ago I was an idiot and signed up for AOL.
Years ago I also discontinued my AOL account and could not uninstall the crap off my computer. There was actually a class action lawsuit related to either that or them disabling other services or some combination.
While I went on a sea deployment my account somehow got activated and I did not know it for about 8 months. Once I asked WTF they only gave me a 50% refund. Bastards.
To this day when I see their CDs I still have a policy of take one (or more) and throw it away. After a few hundred more I might be even with them.
AOL Coasters
Stick the CDs in the microwave for a brief period and they'll become reticulated [all cracked up] and then glue some cork to the bottom - very pretty and actually useful unlike AOL itself.
Another alternative use is to get a friend to fling them up in the air like a frisbee and you shoot them down with a .12 gauge like skeet.
the CD fish on the wall
or collect them and then paste them to the wall of the kid's room, overlapping in the pattern of a large, colorful fish (the ovrlapping CDs look like shiny scales, and if you turn them carefully the colored parts form patterns to separate the back, gills, underside, fin, eyes, etc. After several hundred CDs you end up with a very beautiful wall mural "fish" that the kids really appreciate. Great for rainbow reflections when the sun hits the wall too.
AOL'sFuture
could be very bright if they could just get one clear vision of the future. Broadband is the first step. Second step is that they have to keep and expand their IM service with advertising, (the largest IM on the internet with 40 million people using it) which they have started to do with AIM.com were you can get their IM for free. But the AOL/AIM connection is still just way to foggy and needs clearing up.
As for "quitting" AOL, they have made it a lot easier. Now you can quit AOL and still keep your AOL email address for free. I quite AOL 6 months ago after having it for like 6 years and I still have my AOL email address.
Best,
Dan
smart marketing
They already know all about you, so this way they can keep in touch with you and continue to watch whatever activity they get privvy to. Smart marketing, for the price of carrying an MX record.
Thats fine
but do you have any idea how many people this company has basicly held hostage to their dial up service because they were/are afraid to lose thier email address? That was not right and is not right.I think they would have more than million other customers cancel their service right now if every current AOL customer knew they could kept their main email address for free after canceling the AOL dial up service. Its kinda like the cellphone industry not letting you take your cellphone number with you when you switching providers. That was not right and went on for years and now they finally corrected it.
Dan
Dan
Too little, too late.. hopefully
If they no longer pray on newbie and make it impossible to leave, I think it is only a matter of time before they reduced to the size of the 101 other providers out their. They have no unique selling point anymore, only their brand name and in my opinion that is pretty tarnished.
I always hated them, their horrible condescending adverts, nasty interface and rubbish customer support.