What is this 'total subscribers' crap?! AOL cannot target ICQ users for the advertising, i.e. it doesn't know if an ICQ user is a sports fan in order to show the user sports related advertisement. Also, ICQ is a free service with no real way for a user to terminate an account. I tried ICQ over two years ago, I bet my account is still active. You can't count ICQ as part of the 'market'.
Are you serious?! ICQ can become whatever AOL wants it to become - the reason being AOL now owns it! Yes, it is a free service (for now). But does it have to stay that way? The software can be recoded (and it should btw, some security holes), and more importantly the UI can be designed to support advertising. If you think that AOL simply decided to buy ICQ to spend some cash - you need to revisit a principal called ROI.
Again, AOL can't create a monopoly like Windows OS. Every PC is forced to run Windows95/NT because most software are written for it. But every service provided by AOL can be duplicated, including the user-friendly packaging.
Wrong. No one is "forced" to run Windows/NT. I'm sure you've heard of UNIX, Linux, Macintosh? Yes, there is another world other then Windows. You saying that AOL can be duped - but Win can't? Nothing is farther from the truth. Any technology out there today can be improved, re-engineered and re-packaged. All it takes is enough capitol - both monetary and human.
If you know the story of how Windows actually came about, you wouldn't be so quick to say that it is the holy grail. Of course, this thread isn't about MSFT. BTW, I do use their software...
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