America Online is an internet service provider designed to allow end users to access the “Internet” over their phone lines. Unlike their competitors, CompuServe and Prodigy, they offer full 56kps connectivity. They also allow you to search the World Wide Web, along with hundreds of custom communities and thousands of individual web pages.

America Online (AOL) is incredibly easy to use, from the intuitive menu system to communities organized via their revolutionary “keyword” structure, AOL puts information at your fingertips. More notably, they have a fully integrated “web browser,” the first of its kind for consumer-level web browsing. Now you can surf your favorite BBS’ without having to call up your hacker friends. It’s a site to behold!

It’s designed from the ground up for the consumer market. The dulcet tones of the login screen hearken back to Telnet, but from the moment you hear “You’ve Got Mail” you know that you have stepped into the future. America Online puts everything in its place, from the integrated email client, to a directory of chat rooms for those with “special tastes,” AOL has something for everyone.

Currently, America Online’s two biggest competitors are Compuserve and Prodigy. Both of these services offer similar functionality but lack the sense of style and the marketing budget that AOL has.
AOL also beats out its competitors by providing an easy to install disks with a 30 day free trial. It’s the perfect treat to test out your computer’s new “Pentium” processor. This trial period makes it simple to decide whether to pick their 100 hour service (which should be plenty for most users) or to upgrade to their unlimited plan (the information super-highway 24/7!).

You should be able to find a copy of this floppy disk in your mailbox, your airport, at your local bookstore, in your church, synagogue or mosque and as a prize in your box of Captain Crunch.

AOL monetizes their service on a subscription model. They have several plans, depending on how many hours of Internet time you want to purchase.

No matter how brilliant the system, there is always room for improvement. Their monetization plans, for instance, are a little thin compared to magazines and newspapers (for instance), They could improve their monetization strategy by adding an additional fee for people who use premium services like chat rooms and message boards. This is a small price to pay for people already used to paying for their Internet access by the minute.

As it stands, they are still too small for any company to want to acquire them, however, there are rumors that Time Warner might want to get involved in the ISP game. We will just have to wait and see how that pans out.

(Images)

If you enjoyed that why not find a job or read our guide to working in the 21st century. You can also join our Kiva team or hire me for your project.