Actually, you've been pretty lucky with your access. I had Netcom for 3 years, and as it grew, the preponderance of busy signals increased dramatically. Virtually all ISPs have suffered that fate from time to time.
AOL is a victim of their own success in that regard, and rather than berate them for failing to deliver a viable product, one should realize that the "failings" of busy signals and disconnections are rather "growing pains". They've grown further and faster than any other ISP, and one should expect the kind of problems they've had with the kind of growth they've experienced.
By all accounts, the "problems" have diminished over the last 2 years, and the service has improved dramatically.
I mentioned the industry they were in because so many people lump them in the Inut/Tech sectors. They are not really in either. They are not an internet pure play, and they are clearly not a Tech company. However, whenever people make comments about either sector, AOL suffers. Yet, in reviewing their revenues, one can see that while the ISP portion is still their main revenue generator, Advertising is their faster growing revenue source. Based on information from Forrester and Jupiter.....that is likely to continue for many more years.
Still, none of this has to do with CPQ. On that front, I was happy to see that my father (who knows squat about technology) put $16,000 into CPQ last week. This $16,000 represents an original investment he made in IBM about 3-4 years ago. I believe it is worth about $90,000 now. His feeling was that IBM has peaked for the time being, and he can leave "their" money on the table.
However, in speaking to his investment advisor, they recommended CPQ due to the strength of the company and the fact that it had so little downside left.
BTW, my dad's other holdings at this point: MOT, ORCL, AOL, and SUNW.....so he's no slouch. Basically, unless his luck is about to change, he hasn't picked a loser in a number of years. |
