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

To: Rico Staris who wrote (15569)	5/7/1999 10:36:00 AM
From: Tom Tallant	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

Rico, All I can gather is that you are particularly nervous about AOL. You know (or should know) that DSL is a viable alternative to cable. It is interesting to note that AOL today has said they are pursing a nationwide DSL strategy. Any predictions as to how much marketshare it will take away from ATHM? What do you suppose is going to happen when reality sets in and investors realize that cable is not going to be the "be all to beat all" but rather only one of many ways to access the internet? If I were you I would take any profits you might have in ATHM while the hype is strong. Respectfully, Tom

To: Rico Staris who wrote (15569)	5/7/1999 10:47:00 AM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41369

Broadband is ATHM. Wrong. Broadband is simply a term used to denote a bigger pipe. ATHM is simply a cable access provider of broadband. Bell Atlantic, SBC, Covad, and hundreds of other ISP services provide broadband services to consumers. AOL's broadband is what they call DSL...which is not really a broadband bec. it is running on phone lines. With all the partnerships and acquisitions ATT/ATHM had done...there is nothing left for AOL except small cable companies in rural areas...or sticking with their DSL service thru phone lines....which we all know is 100 times LESS faster than cable. Again, wrong. AOL's "broadband" will consist of whatever partners they sign on. Currently this involved DSL relationships with Bell Atlantic and SBC, which covers over 20 million homes across the US. DSL service can also be provided at throughput rates faster then cable connections. And it is by no means 100 times less faster then cable. Cable shares bandwith, which means if all your neighbors are connected to the hub at the same time, the speed of your connection markedly decreases. Not so with DSL - it is a dedicated line. With Broadband, it will be 100 times faster and ALWAYS ON and does not tie up your phone lines. Wrong again. DSL does not tie up phone lines! DSL uses differnt frequency spectrum for data transmission. This allow simultaneuos use of voice, fax and data over the same phone line. BTW, Broadband will be INTERACTIVE. When you are watching a commercial, you can also buy the product at the same time while watching. No Hype, just facts already mentioned in ATHM's PR's. The Web medium in general is an interactive environment! All "broadband" does is make it faster. Simply put, it gives you a fatter pipe to download content. Ask yourself why WebTV has been a bust. In the end it comes down to what any broadband provider can offer. Content, community and "sticky apps." Bears often say that you can find anything AOL has on the Web for free. Maybe so. But the Web doesn't wrap it all in one, nice package like AOL does. That's the reason AOL has more subscribers that any other provider in the world! Period. S.