Chuzzlewit...I would like to throw out a few thoughts on AOL and where it could go in the future..I'm not even sure myself how much of what I'm going to say has probable substance or not..They are just some ideas to toss around, accept, dismiss, modify or whatever.
AOL has come a long way as an ISP, content developer, advertising medium (tremendous holiday $$ just went through the AOL customer)..These things are already working quite nicely.
Going forward we really don't know what all they will be involved in but we know something about the acquisitions (chief in importance being NSCP), the partnerships (SUNW to name an important one), the early stage development of bandwidth (and beyond) possibilities (ADSL, cable and the futuristic wireless) going forward that can give an innovative, cash-rich, talented (important), company the tools to position itself to be on the cutting edge of technological and innovative development.
If AOL can develop the access deals, whether that be ADSL or Cable, and partner with strategic companies in the internet device field (SUNW and others)...and if they can get a strong foothold in the wireless (DirecTV-?, sources on both sides not denying talks) internet arena (a basically untapped, but forseeably large area of growth in the future-like radios when they went from being plugged into the wall to portable/wireless)....Then, with AOL's brand awareness and marketing skills they will have a bright, bright future ahead of them.
The operating word here is "if" they can do all these things....To be honest, because so much of AOL's future is in the early innings of the development stage, with so much future ahead for this industry (I don't think wireless internet will be a real force for another 5 years yet) there are still a fair amount of unknowns yet to be made known....For this reason I don't know that I would "bet the farm" on a future with so many "unknowns", but I think AOL is certainly positioned well enough, with it's accomplishments, acquisitions, partnerships and brand awareness to at least "bet a piece of the farm" on AOL growing into a powerhouse, meeting their objective of AOL Anywhere.
If any of this makes sense, or can be added to to make it make more sense, feel free to add your thoughts.
Regards, George |
