A Community Message from Steve Case to AOL members:December 30, 1999
Dear Members:
This is my last "community update" of the 20th Century -- and the first of the 21st Century.
For people all over the world, the century's end -- and the new millennium's beginning -- is a time to reflect. Everywhere you look, there's another Top 100 List -- from the Top 100 Events of the 20th Century to the Top 100 Books even the Top 100 Fads.
It's easy to understand why we're making lists -- how else could we keep track of the amazing achievements of the 20th Century? From the invention of the automobile, the airplane, the transistor radio and the television, to the coming of the computer age and the rise of the Internet revolution, this has been a century of stunning innovation and progress.
There's a lot of hype and hoopla surrounding this New Year's Eve. It's not just another new year, or decade, or century, or even millennium. Rather, it's an opportunity for everyone, simultaneously, to take a step back and take stock -- as families, as communities and as nations. And for us at AOL, it's a time to examine the progress the interactive medium has made, and the challenges that lie ahead.
It really is amazing to see how far the Internet has come in such a short period of time. A decade ago we had just 100,000 members -- and few had heard of the Internet. Five years ago, it was just 1 million members -- and the World Wide Web was just coming into existence. This month, we passed the 20 million member mark -- and the interactive world is now part of everyday life (indeed, the letter "e" -- as in e-mail, e-commerce, etc. -- has become the prefix for a massive social and economic transformation). Even more startling than the growth in people using the Internet is the amount of time they are now spending online. Five years ago, AOL members spent about an hour a week online. Now, it's an hour a day -- and AOL is becoming a family experience, with more and more children participating. (And some of you even tell us that you are more likely to go online than to eat breakfast!)
We're certainly proud of the role AOL has played in helping to foster the growth of the Internet. And we're very thankful that all of you, our members, have chosen to be part of the AOL community. But we truly believe the best is yet to come. This new century will, I believe, become known as the "Internet Century," and this medium will touch our lives in ways we never thought possible.
Just imagine what it would be like if everybody was connected -- talking together, learning together, doing business together. And imagine what it would be like if people were connecting not just through PCs, but through pocket devices, telephone devices, and television devices -- with easier access and faster connections through telephone lines, wireless networks and broadband networks. And imagine what it would be like if this wasn't just happening in this country, but in every country, as the Internet emerges as the first truly global medium.
We are excited about these new developments -- and we are determined to help you make the most of them. That's what "AOL Anywhere" is all about -- bringing more people into the world of interactive services, and making the online experience an even more valuable part of people's lives.
But while we'll continue to enhance AOL and make the promise of AOL Anywhere a reality, and while we'll continue to build our company so we can meet your needs and also the needs of our partners, employees, and shareholders, we realize we shoulder a responsibility that transcends improving our services and bettering our company. We recognize we need to take proactive steps now to ensure that we build a medium we can be proud of -- a medium that has a positive impact on society. Sure, the Internet brings convenience to our lives, and empowers us in ways we never thought possible, but it also shows great promise in terms of benefiting society at large by helping to improve education, stimulating increased civic involvement, inspiring new levels of volunteerism and charity -- it even can be a tool to foster understanding between people in lands torn by conflict and implant democracy in countries that have been resistant to empowering their people.
There are a whole series of challenges we face if this is going to be a medium we truly can be proud of. For starters, we have to ensure that the online experience is safe for children. AOL has worked hard to be a leader in developing parental controls -- and we are glad that close to 80% of the kids using AOL are using these controls. But if we want more children to use the Internet to expand their horizons -- while learning the skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century -- we have to do even more.
Next, we have to protect people's privacy. That means we have to be straight with users -- giving you full notice about how your information is being used and giving you choices about that use. That's why AOL has a stringent Privacy Policy -- and that's why we are working with other Internet companies to put in place industrywide privacy standards.
Most important of all, we need to make sure that the benefits of this amazing new medium are available to everyone -- regardless of where they live, or how much money they have. A more connected world empowers people economically, socially, and politically -- and that serves us all. So we must make sure that as the world grows more connected, we don't leave anybody -- or any country -- behind.
We can meet this challenge by working to bridge the "digital divide" -- the gap between those who have access to the new technology and know how to use it, and those who don't. AOL has already made a commitment to lending a helping hand in this area, and last week we committed $20 million to expand our efforts in making sure that everyone can reap the benefits of the connected world. We also have helped create PowerUP, an alliance that leverages the skills of organizations like America's Promise, the YMCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, and the National Urban League and the resources of companies like AOL and Gateway to shine a spotlight on the digital divide and build community technology centers throughout the country -- and eventually throughout the world.
We have only just begun to dream about how this medium is going to transform our lives and our society. It's a new world, and it's going to require fresh, bold thinking. At AOL, we are excited by the challenges and the prospects, and we look forward to delighting you with new products, services and experiences. We are committed to constantly raising the bar and bringing you with us into a new world of even greater interactivity and connectedness. And we take seriously our commitment to building a medium we can be proud of.
We look forward to entering the next century. A century from now, as people look back and reflect on the dawn of this "Internet Century," I think they'll agree it was an extraordinary time. We should all be grateful that we get to live it -- especially since the best is yet to come!
Warm Regards,
Steve Case
P.S. As we enter the new millennium, "Y2K" has been on a lot of people's minds. If you have not yet visited AOL's Year 2000 Information at Keyword: Y2K, please take a moment and do so now. With the click of a button, you will learn if your AOL Internet software is Y2K compliant and whether you need an upgrade. |
