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To: Modano who wrote (1)12/28/1998 2:13:00 PM
From: Dennis  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 41369
 
Hope I can add something along the way. Good Luck



To: Modano who wrote (1)12/28/1998 2:17:00 PM
From: im a survivor  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 41369
 
Thanks Modano.

I was getting really tired of seeing that

" will it survive " nonsense.

Good luck to all.



To: Modano who wrote (1)12/28/1998 3:36:00 PM
From: Edwarda  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 41369
 
Already switched over and checking in. Happy New Year!



To: Modano who wrote (1)12/28/1998 7:13:00 PM
From: Jan Garrity Allen  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 41369
 
Yes I would agree with a split as soon as they incorporate the netscape stocks in the Spring or sooner ! I expect the stock to reach 300 and higher and then split 3 for 1!! We have to have some stocks available for the index funds!! This is a MISSLE so Good Luck to all !!!



To: Modano who wrote (1)12/28/1998 10:10:00 PM
From: Dr. D  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 41369
 
I think investors will come to the conclusion AOL is the Internet play
that every analyst has been looking for. One that Will command the leadership of the nets. Now that AOL is going to the S&P index it will settle the nerves of those who want to participate in the Atomic earnings engine. It will also attract lots of long-term investors. This is what we need more than any thing else. The vision of long term Continued growth will seduce the market.

Yes I'm excited

3d



To: Modano who wrote (1)1/15/1999 11:46:00 PM
From: SpongeBrain  Read Replies (9) | Respond to of 41369
 
Let me tell you fools about AOL. Sorry to be so blunt, but I've had it w/ the sheep all recommending AOL.

I ask one question:
Do you know what the hell AOL is?
(or 2) Will that product be needed in the future?!?!??

ISP's? Dont know where they'll be once cable or whatever is widly avail.
AOL's proprietary services are junk and anything they offer
can be found better on the web for free.
And connectivity?
Will you use AOL when you can get cable internet for the same price??
Calling internet by phone will like harking back to bows and arrows.
This is something they will ned to address either with alliances or buyouts.
AOL could be worth .12c in a few years, they could lose entire customer
base!
Remmeber they simply are a forerunner, not a leader.



To: Modano who wrote (1)2/13/1999 10:14:00 PM
From: PHarris  Respond to of 41369
 
Is this the beginning of the end?

AOL Playing Catch-up with Y2K
by Declan McCullagh
3:00 a.m. 13.Feb.99.PST


The Year 2000 problem might cause more
worries for America Online than the
company had expected.

AOL's engineers have not yet determined
how many systems are infected with the
Y2K bug and only a handful of AOL's
suppliers and partners have responded to
requests for information, according
to new financial disclosure documents
filed this week.

"The Company is in the process of asking
its vendors, joint venture partners, and
content partners about their progress ...
but has received very few complete
responses," said a document filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission
on Wednesday.

Further, AOL (AOL) reports that it began
testing its hardware components -- such
as computers, routers, and telephone
equipment -- for Y2K glitches only last
month, long after experts say the process
should have begun.

"If they finish the assessment and find
out by some miracle everything was fine
all along, they've escaped. But if it turns
out they do have compliance problems,
there's no time left at this point," said Ed
Yourdon, author of two dozen books on
software engineering and a Y2K
consultant.

Y2K problems are particularly troubling for
companies that rely on computers as
much as AOL, the world's largest online
service. Manual workarounds are not a
realistic option for an services running
proprietary software.

Last month, the venerable Prodigy online
service announced it was shutting down
because of Y2K glitches. Prodigy
Communications said it decided to retire
its Prodigy Classic service after 11 years
because the clunky 1980s-vintage
hardware and software was full of
"spaghetti code."

"The implementation of these Internet
functions and technologies predate
current standards and aren't readily
upgradable," said spokesman Dan Levine.
"It's not that we couldn't do it, but it's
based on standards that are pretty
cost-prohibitive."

Prodigy has encouraged its 208,000
Classic customers to switch to the
company's Internet service.

Will AOL experience similar headaches?
Don't bet on it, the company says.

"We are in the midst of testing. We've
encountered very few, if any, major
problems," said spokesman Rich D'Amato.
"We're pretty comfortable and confident
that we've put into place the kinds of
systems and task force that's necessary."

He declined, however, to reveal what
percentage of systems AOL has that
might be affected by Y2K, and how many
of those have been fixed.

According to SEC documents, AOL has
made scant progress in the last year.

In February 1998, AOL said it had created
a task force that was "currently in the
process of completing its identification of
applications" with problems.

Wednesday's filing reports uses very
similar language. "This Task Force is
undertaking its assessment of the
Company's compliance," it says.

AOL says it expects to spend a total of
$8 million on Y2K fixes and will have a
contingency plan in place by July 1999.

wired.com



To: Modano who wrote (1)6/7/1999 2:19:00 PM
From: Blue Voodoo  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 41369
 
The following price per subscriber makes XSNI look like a screaming buy - I'm wondering what the comparable numbers for US ISP's like AOL is:

Message 10013160

At an exchange rate of 1.600, Freeserve is being valued at $800.0 MM
to $3,200.0 MM. That works out to approximately $533 to $2,133 per subscriber. If
the same valuation is applied to the 350,000 XSNI subscribers, XSNI has a valuation
of approximately $187.0 MM to $747.0 MM. Divide these valuations by the 34.0 MM
XSNI shares that are outstanding, and you have a valuation of approximately $5.50 to
$22.00 per share (current stock price is under $4 per share). Note that
as of Friday's close, the subscribers of ELNK and MSPG were being valued at $1,628
and $2,105 each, respectively.



To: Modano who wrote (1)10/5/1999 3:30:00 AM
From: Mary Baker  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 41369
 
AOL Offers New User Interface

By ANICK JESDANUN
.c The Associated Press


NEW YORK (AP) - America Online is introducing an interactive calendar and expanding a digital photo service in anticipation of a world where people are not tied to their computers for Internet access.

Company officials said they designed the new AOL 5.0 user interface with wireless phones, hand-held organizers and other portable devices in mind. The software is scheduled for release in New York today.

The calendar feature, for instance, will let subscribers keep track of appointments and birthdays and exchange their kids' soccer schedules with one another.

But computer-based calendars are often impractical to use because they require people to be at a computer to find out where they need to be. AOL hopes to get around that restriction by making its system adaptable for portable devices.

Zia Daniell Wigder, an analyst with the Internet research firm Jupiter Communications, said portable devices represent a largely untapped market and companies that enter it first have the advantage.

''Everyone's scrambling to figure out how users will interact in these devices,'' she said. ''It's becoming hypercompetitive.''

With more than 18 million subscribers using its flagship service worldwide, AOL is the largest Internet service provider.

The AOL 5.0 interface could help the company meet its stated goal of offering ''AOL Anywhere.'' The company also hopes the new features will encourage subscribers to stay online longer and allow AOL to boost rates for online ads.

In addition to the calendar, AOL will expand to the rest of the nation a digital photo service it runs with Eastman Kodak Co.

The ''You've Got Pictures'' service, tested in a few cities this past summer, allows photofinishers to send electronic copies of pictures to AOL accounts. From those accounts, consumers can arrange photos in online albums, send them as e-mail to friends and family, or order reprints and enlargements.

With the new interface, subscribers will be able to view pictures using portable devices as well, making them as mobile as photo albums.

AOL 5.0 will also recognize how computers connect to AOL so that those using higher-speed connections could get more video clips and other items that do not work as well at regular speeds. Such broadband access is only beginning to enter the home market.

AOL, fearing it could be denied parts of the broadband market, is currently lobbying regulators to force AT&T and other cable providers to sell it access to high-speed cable data networks at wholesale prices. AOL already has deals with a satellite TV firm and phone companies to offer non-cable broadband services.

AP-NY-10-05-99 0235EDT

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.



To: Modano who wrote (1)12/2/2001 4:16:21 PM
From: Forrest  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 41369
 
BARRONS

Back in early October, Doug Kass, hedge-fund manager par excellence (Seabreeze Partners is the fund's monicker), laid out in this space why he was bearish on AOL Time Warner. At the heart of his negative take on the mammoth media outfit was the conviction that online subscriber growth was declining, a surmise affirmed by third-quarter numbers.

But a more immediate reason for his stance was the likelihood that AOL would have to pony up a very big bunch of bucks to buy out its partner, Bertelsmann, in their money-losing joint venture AOL Europe. The obligation is in the form of a put granted Bertelsmann in the halcyon days of late '99-early 2000, when the Internet was still all the rage.

Back in October, we noted that analysts couldn't give a hoot about the possibility that AOL would have to scrape up a couple-plus billion in hard cold cash to hand over to Bertelsmann. And since then, they've been too busy being wild about Harry Potter to make even passing mention of the fast-approaching deadline for the company to meet its partner's put.

Doug reminds us, though, that the deadline is a scant couple of weeks off and it's no longer merely hypothetical. For in a recent SEC filing, AOL revealed that it had received word that Bertelsmann, indeed, would exercise its right to sell AOL its 49.5% stake in AOL Europe for between $6.7 billion and $8.25 billion. That's a nice piece of change, and even nicer in view of Doug's estimate that all of AOL Europe at this point is worth maybe $2 billion.

Of the purchase price, $2.5 billion is payable in cash and the rest in AOL stock or a combination of cash and stock. The first installment due Bertelsmann, incidentally, covers 80% of the total and the balance must be paid by July 1.

Chances are, even though the shares remain far below their lordly peak, AOL will choose to issue as much new stock as it can to defer the Bertelsmann tab. What that implies, of course, is dilution.

Last we looked, in any case, AOL didn't have $2.5 billion or anywhere close to it in the corporate till. However, the company assures that coming up with the dough is no sweat, noting that it can always, among other things, borrow what it needs from banks, float commercial paper or tap the capital markets.

Or who knows, maybe Harry Potter can exercise his wizardry and conjure up the money.