Hi Jim,
I understand that AOL is having a lot of problems but I consider these growing pains. Other on-line services and internet services are also having financial problems. Netcom is yet to make a profit and it may be some time before they do. The point is that this is a highly competitive business and the entire industry is growing and changing very rapidly. Some of the smaller services/providers will undoubtedly fold or be bought out in the future. AOL, however, remains the most popular on-line service. I would argue that if they can't be successful then Prodigy, Compuserv, etc. don't stand a chance. AOL's current access problems stem from having too many customers not lack of demand. Therefore, they have to spend a lot on capital which will pay off down the road.
Both AOL and Prodigy went through these same growing pains when they first started (long before internet was popular). When Prodigy and AOL first came to my town, everything was fine and getting on either was easy. Then, within a year both had become so popular that it was hard getting through to either. I dropped AOL at that time and chose to go with Prodigy. I also made Prodigy give me several free months of service until they fixed their access problem. They weren't happy about it, but they agreed. Since then, Prodigy, at least in my area, has added sufficient hardware and I can always get through now.
The same thing happened with Netcom in my area. Access was easy at first, many more people signed up, access became difficult, they added more hardware, now everything is fine.
Cynics aside, AOL will get better, AOL will grow, and USRX will get their fair share of AOL's increased capital spending.
Long USRX (think I hear this train a leavin')
FF, |
