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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chung Lee who wrote (28897)	8/8/1999 12:00:00 PM
From: J Krnjeu	Respond to of 41369

Mr. Chung Lee, >> Most like it and consider it "premium content" enough to pay "premium dollars" to belong to it. But there is NO premium content!!! only premium fee, hello That is YOUR opinion. Again 17/18 million subscribers believe it it premium and will pay premium dollars for access to it! HELLO!! Compuserve @ 9.95 is only good for 20 hours/month access, monthly unlimited is @ 19.95. Business is a changing environment, They've changed in the past and can change in the future. Currently, AOL subscriber rate is greater than the FREE ISP sites so why change. Yes, that is true. but subscriber rate may not keep pace with previous quarter/year, due to bundled deals offered by various PC makers and retailers, Dell offers Dellnet for 12 months free, Gateway has gateway.net 12 months free, Compaq owns part of AltaVista which offer free access with banner however, Micro Center, Best Buy, Circuit City, Compusa offers either prodigy, MSN or Compuserve for $400 rebate, these are recent phenomenum and not likely to disappear, the pool of new subscribers are being "attacked" by all players,something has to give, isp margins are falling, whether the gain in AOL ecommerce volume and margin can make up for the deficit remains to be seen, I doubt it, at least the final combined growth will be slowed. The key word here is "may". The subscirber rate may go up or down. Since access devices to the internet become more available to the masses and easier to operate, this is provides a wider audience. This new audience will be more likely follow their friends. I've worked with a great many people who have purchase PCs based on what someone they know has brought. Again, there maybe more ISPs but none will have the content that AOL has. I know you don't accept that but that is your opinion versus my opinion and the 17/18 million subscribers. >>AOL's revenue streams are changing. E-commerce and advertising will soon be over 50% of their income and eventually be the majority of their revenue. The key word maybe eventually, I interpret your view as ST neutral, LT Strong Buy. no? I am watching from the sideline, not just for AOL, the market in general. Actually I've worked on several e-commerce sites and business will make more money off those sites than increasing their sales significantly. One company will realize an additional 50 - 100 million dollars without increasing their sales. I believe shortly e-commerce and advertising will bypass subscription fees. This is what AOL is basing their business model on. Thank You JK