Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : AUTOHOME, Inc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. Davies who wrote (18758)	1/13/2000 5:18:00 PM
From: KailuaBoy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29970

>Roughly 50% of the internet users in the country already pay extra for AOL content. People actually like AOL out there. They pay AOL to get them "on-line". Once they get comfortable with the concept and discover competing content AND overcome their fear of leaving...they leave. I've seen it numerous times. AOL's attempts at closing their chat client to competitors is a reaction to this. It increases the FUD surrounding leaving AOL. >The TWX network is pretty much already upgraded, so its not like what T had to go through with TCI. It's also better than "net $20" for AOL >because right now they pay WCOM for dial-up users. How does that work? TWX is immune from the forklift upgrade that T is going through? They aren't "pretty much upgraded". That's a fantasy. AOL will no longer pay WCOM for access but now they have an HFC spaghetti mess to run. It's not trivial and it costs $$$$. Case "doin'-the-deal" doesn't make the issues surrounding building a backbone, upgrading HFC, transitioning narrowbanders to BB, rolling trucks, etc. I'm not saying that they can't make it happen, It's just not gonna be pretty. That is a guarantee. >Beep beep is "nothing". >Fits the AOL style doesnt it? Are you sure that "nothing" is bad? Nothing is nothing. It's not good or bad. I wouldn't want to own stock in nothing, if that's something. >The ATHM structure will provide much greater quality if the general internet remains too overloaded to handle the broadband traffic. That is not >a given. As a matter of fact consider what will happen when everyone is broadband. ATHM cannot handle the traffic of the entire internet! When >everyone is broadband the net itself will have to handle it and "nothing" may end up being the right architecture after all. Huh? Eric. Stop it! You will cease to believe the above immediately! When exactly will the "Internet" catch up with the escalating bandwidth requirements of the world? I'm probably going to die after living 110 years without enough bandwidth. (lPlease leave the obvious pun alone) >In the meantime we have AOL promoting the value of "nothing". The sheep will freely accept that "nothing" is right. Has @home ever managed to >show the public the value of its backbone? Have they ever even really tried? AOL has shown the world the value of "ease of use". They pulled away from everyone with that simple concept. Now they are turning the corner because "ease of use" is widely accepted as a neccessity. The competitors are making it easy to use their services. That's why you see the chat blocking, OA chest pounding, TWX buying. It stinks like desperation. ATHM stinks for different reasons. >Steve Case just fumbled big time. >He had no choice. Given the reality of the situation he did the best thing I can imagine to save AOL's sorry hide. He traded wealth for power. He pulled the rip cord bigtime and now the curtain will rise and he will have to sing. No more Milli Vanilli Steve. I think the same folks who have been singing the Steve Case is a new world God will be the ones who crucify him in the coming several years. KB