Assumptions and Failures

AOL was American Online and huge part of the internet going commercial was having an AOL account in the 90’s. I remember that the first email and online account I personally had was an AOL account. When AOL was around it was a web portal that included email, messaging and internet access. At one point in time AOL was one of the most recognized internet brands with their quick [at the time] dial up service. In 2001 AOL also purchased Time Warner and was on the rise of their popularity.

AOL began as an email and internet service that was very popular for many years. “By 2000, AOL was the nation’s biggest Internet provider and worth $125 billion.” (Rothman). At this time AOL was in a great spot, it purchased Netscape and then merges with Time Warner. As soon as the merger happened things started almost immediately going downhill. AOL and Time Warner had very different cultures within their company and created a work environment that was not ideal to work in. Although this made it difficult to work in the AOL corporation, this was not the reason for the failure of AOL. At this time broadband internet was making its debut and more internet providers were using the much fast version of dial-up. AOL’s business model was based off of charging monthly for the use of their (past) superior dial-up internet. With the new broadband service promising faster speeds and overall better use, dial-up was becoming a thing of the past.

Overall, AOL was very successful in its time. Their dial-up internet service was one of the best in the 90’s, yet it could not keep up with the changing and improving technology. Between their lack to innovate and their inability to smooth of their company culture AOL was unable to keep up with their success.

References

Lumb, David. “A Brief History Of AOL.” Fast Company, 2015, www.fastcompany.com/3046194/a-brief- history-of-aol.

McGrath, Rita Gunther. “15 Years Later, Lessons from the Failed AOL-Time Warner Merger.” Fortune, 2015, fortune.com/2015/01/10/15-years-later-lessons-from-the-failed-aol-time-warner- merger/.

Rothman, Lily. “A Brief Guide to the Tumultuous 30-Year History of AOL.” Time, 22 May 2015, time.com.