Windows

Is AOL Even Worth Its Weight In Hassle These Days?

Posted by on Oct 16, 2007 | 4 Comments

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I remember when, every day the mail would come, there was at least one AOL disk included. It was everywhere, and you couldn’t seem to get away from it.

Over the next couple of months, AOL will be laying off more than 2,000 workers. This doesn’t really come as a suprise to many people. AOL is not the powerhouse it once was.

The software package is so bloated, and can seriously bog down your system. It is also adware driven. Back in the day, AOL was one of the few options for getting online and having email. However, it’s a simple thing to get online these days, and there’s honestly no reason to have to install this huge package that can slow you down, give you ads, and all the “features” you don’t even want or need.

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[tags]adware, aol, isp[/tags]

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/antechy770/ fresnotech

    LOL AOL Served its purpose back in the day they need to start serving the current purpose. in todays world being aware of adware and usless progs that just runin the background and slow down your system is a mus. software companies target adware specifically and the idea that this ounce respectable company pops up when i use one of my ever so friendly well known adware removal tools on a clients computer is pisses me off comeone AOL join the casue dont be the cause . this is why aol Crap is always what i get rid of first. they need to fix there direction start serving the people again. when i got o a client and they tell me there system is acting funny then i get on it and see The AOL running man I cringe and head for my software case.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/miiikeee/ miiikeee

    Ahhh AOL and it’s demon browser. Absolutely awful. The one redeeming quality was the free internet access. When I was in Uncle Sam’s Navy and on a tight budget, AOL free samples got me online. Use up the free time, format the hard drive and throw another free sample in. That was a way of life for me for several years.

  • Vince Barbour

    I remember the days of Multi-AOL discs per day.

    I used to joke that the movie Independance Day had a plot flaw. They didn’t need to fly to and invade the Alien Mother Ship to install the virus. All they needed to do is put it on AOL Discs since everyone in the Universe got a few dozen per week…

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/verdican/ verdican

    I’m surprised that the company hasn’t bankrupted it. I don’t think I know anyone who still uses it. Let’s face it. AOL is horrible.

    Like you said, back in the old days, AOL disks were everywhere. It was also excepted by everyone because it was probably the easiest way to get on the internet. They would use free disks to ‘lure’ people on the internet, and when their ‘free trail’ ended, the users were charged with tremendous amounts of money. There have been multiple lawsuits filed against AOL. When you download it, the program tries multiple times to run as a startup program. It’s like a bad virus that won’t go away.

    Another problem with it is that it’s almost impossible to cancel. When you try canceling the service, you’ll have multiple questions asked by customer service asking you to “Tell us why you want to cancel” or “You don’t need to pay for another 3 months”. Even when you are extremely firm that you want to cancel, the representatives keep on asking you “Why, why why.” There was an investigation which found out that AOL supposedly rewarded those employees who managed to stop someone from canceling the service.

    These days, with so many great ISP out there, I’ll be astounded if you can find people who still use AOL. I mean, compared to Comcast, AT&T, Cox, Verizon, and all the other ISP’s, AOL is but a little bug in the big world. I think the scariest thing is that AOL used to cost more then DSL. And for what? A 56kbit download? No thank you.

    Conclusion? AOL is just outdated software that really needs to die out.