AOL on the other hand, will never be able to create a monopoly like MSFT. Too many local ISP's and telephone companies are eyeing the business already, not to mention MSFT's new MSN strategy. AOL may remain its leader position, but it won't capture more than 30-40% of the market.
I guess that depends on what your consider the "market." If we go by the estimates on the number of internet users...that averages in around 50-55 million. If you take total subscribers for AOL (AOL, CompuServe, ICQ) you get around 25 million subscribers. Doing the quick calcualation, that comes in around 50%.
Granted AOL currently offers 'communities' of chat and instant messaging that attract some people. But those features are phases which people will eventually grow out of. I am a die hard computer user who has gone through phases of USENET, IRC, Message Boards, and etc. I know most people do the same. More importantly though, none of these services are proprietary to AOL.
Yeah, I'm a die hard computer user also. In fact, I would say of the 24 hours in a day...I spend about 18 in front of a computer :). I've done and still do USENET, IRC, message boards, etc. etc. The services aren't proprietary to AOL - they belong to no one. But what AOL does is make such technologies available to layman users - all packaged in a user friendly format. Not everyone is interested in configuring xyz to get IRC up, a newsreader to work, hunt down boards, etc...
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