Here's a Post I picked up on a Yahoo thread...It should spark a little healthy discussion ...I personally do NOT agree that AOL is in trouble -- in the near term. They have a very powerful global network and have a lot of leverage with advertisers and online retailers. Yet, the author of this post brings up some interesting points...
Best Regards, Scott
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<<Imagine a consortium where everyone has their place in it.
Imagine AOL, Netscape, Oracle, Sun, not in this consortium.
What will happen to them going forward ?
AOL is about to get squished like a grape by AT&T and Microsoft if the government doesn't do something about it and FAST.
Tell me, what does AOL really have except except a bunch of neophytes that didn't know any better than to get connected to the internet via just about the worst ISP on the planet ? As their primitive analog modem banks become more and more irrelevant in the face of cable and dsl connectivity, as their portal becomes more and more eclipsed by superior free places Yahoo, what are they going to do ?
The high bandwidth providers aren't stupid. They are requiring users to log in through portals THEY CONTROL. Yahoo is in trouble too. If you don't own relevant hardware, real infrastructure that can't be done without, then you're in danger of becoming irrelevant.
This is why I keep telling you to imagine the power of Dell when it is supplying 25% of the PCs in the world. Owning the hardware is where the power lies for when you control that, you can prejudicially control where it calls "home", at least initially, and often (effectively) permanently. AOL doesn't own any data pipes, nor does it own any PC hardware. What's it going to do when Dell, AT&T, and Microsoft all agree to steer new PC owners towards their respective profit pools ? AOL better start cutting some deals or its dead, and I really don't see what it has to bring to the bargaining table that isn't quickly becoming irrelevant. >> |
