[Ti]AOL!

[cbirds]

NaegeleWDC at aol.com tapped out this message on 12/14/2002 11:59 AM 

>Thanks for the suggestions from cbirds at earthlink.net.  
>
>I have been using OS 10.1.5 almost exclusively since I bought the new Ti 
>800 at the end of May, and love it, and have hardly used OS 9 at all.  
>Since I seem to be able to access my mail using AOL's Netscape 6 and OSX, 
>I will use that for the moment.  Presumably AOL will remedy its problems 
>with MS IE 5.1 for the Mac shortly; and in my opinion, it is the better 
>browser (e.g., I can delete lots of mail quickly simply by checking it off 
>and selecting "delete").

Some of the code used to delete doesn't work in all browsers.....but then 
again, we know that AOL is now PC/MS-oriented.
 
>Finally, cbirds at earthlink.net adds: "I don't of course ever use their 
>browser, and only go on the service to perform my duties."  Amen to that 
>one!  I never use any AOL features except their e-mail, and the same is 
>true of my son even though we are long-time AOL users.  I assume they are 
>"sucking in" enough new customers that the loss of old members doesn't 
>faze them, or at least that's how it appears.  At some point, we will 
>probably leave them too.   

I think the opposite is actually true. Their stock has taken a nosedive 
recently and many people were fed up with the many disconnects they were 
getting, which I assumed might be happening because Time/Warner took over 
and whenever there is a shake-up or reorg of personnel, efficiency takes 
a plunge as well.

When you consider the relatively high prices of their service, you can 
just as easily use a $5.95 ISP with more success. I recently changed my 
81 year old parents over to one and at first they were intimidated by the 
choices they had but now both mom and dad are dialing in from the control 
strip, opening which ever browser (IE or NC) and email they want to use 
(Dad prefers Netscape Communicator and mom like OE for her individual 
email name!) and then finally, opening up AOL on the TCP connection to 
make use of the remaining 2 months they were given free as a result of 
their complaints and attempt to cancel the AOL service!!!
Needless to say I am really proud of them for adapting to the new way of 
doing things and it's worked out fine. Plus, I finally got them to use 
their own email names! Even though they had 7 on AOL, they both used the 
same name (joined at the hip they are!) and I never knew who would be 
reading what. :-)