The Decline of AOL...What Happened?

AOL became massively popular in the 1990's but has since fallen off almost completely in the world of online services. This video talks about how they rose to that level and the reasons behind their decline from it.

To submit ideas and vote on future topics:

A very special thanks to this wonderful group of Patrons:
Amy Westacott, Angus Clydesdale, Brandon L, Brett Walton, Chris Lion-Transler, Christian & Penny Gray, Dominique Dugas, Dustin Van Horn, Dylan Kinnard, Emerald Computers – Jason Dragon, Emily Findley, Fortunate Calf, Jimmy1985, Julianne Beach, Logan Brown, Marshall Kurtz, Meow Wolf, Michelle Chisholm, Mike Weaver, milkshake, MyNameIsKir, Nicholas Murphy, Peter Wesselius, R, Sam Bennett, Sirpoptart, Sondre Grimsmo Sinnes, Stewart Tritapoe, Super Duper Paratrooper, Taylor LaBrier, Tristan Williams, Vincent Frame.

Company Declines:
______________________________

[JostenDooley]

“Get off the internet we need to use the phone “

[spotifyseascapessmoothjazz]

Dad: "I'll need you to stay off the internet for a while, I'm expecting a call"

[jrwheeler]

AOL will always hold a very special place in my heart. It's where I met my husband 22 years ago. We met in a chatroom one day in June of 2000 by total fate. It turned out that we only lived just over 3 hours apart (within reasonable driving distance), with me living in central Maine and him in Boston. We had a great deal in common as he was a paramedic and I had just become an EMT, which was how we initially connected and bonded. I was only 18 and had just graduated from high school and he had just turned 30, so there was an 11-year age gap, but we instantly connected. Instant messaging on AOL turned into hours long phone calls. Then, about a week after we started talking, he made the trip to meet me and we spent several amazing days together in Acadia National Park and almost instantly fell in love. The rest is history. We had an amazing 22 years together and were rarely ever apart. He was my soulmate and the love of my life, not to mention my rock. If it hadn't been for AOL, we never would have crossed paths and met. Sadly, he passed away exactly 1 month and 2 days ago very suddenly and unexpectedly and I miss him so, so much. 😥 Thank you, AOL, for leading me to the love of my life.

[chaddavis]

Somehow the excitement of "you've got mail" faded to "ughhhh 46 emails I have to delete."

[aaronclift]

No joke: I knew a guy who collected so many AOL discs that he made a coffee table out of them.

[imanadult]

At some point, most of us have logged out of aol and heard that, “Goodbye!” for the very last time...


Something to think about.

[DesertRainReads]

I miss AOL, the chatrooms, the icons, the sound effects, and the folks I met through AOL. Crazy, things are not the same unfortunately.

[briansavage]

I was a teenager during AOL's boom years, having graduated in 2001. Everything shifted culturally in 2000. The moment broadband hit the market everyone my age jumped on it immediately. I remember my friend getting a cable modem and canceling AOL at the same time. Everyone I knew did the same. At that point our landing page for the internet became Google or some other search engine. It was all about AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) from that point on. Also, a lot of people used ICQ or Yahoo messenger. This was also when message boards really took off in popularity.
Really though, what drove broadband was Napster, and later Limewire. If you wanted a ton of music and movies you had to drop AOL and get broadband.

[AdmiralBlackstar]

I miss that modem noise...yes being able to access the internet in two seconds is nice, but that noise made every log-in feel epic, like opening the Stargate or something.

[TimFrenzFotography]

I use the AIM chat message sound for my text messages. Every once in a while, I love when someone will hear it and see them perk up like "Wait, I know that sound."

[Vizkos]

As a teen during the burst of AOL, the reason for its death among everyone I knew was the rise of broadband. Online games were becoming more mainstream, and when a technology became more mainstream that allowed people to browse the internet or game and not take up the phone line (DSL), everyone flocked to it. My family went to DSL ~2003-2004. Side note, I lost count of how many times I heard "WHO IS ON THE INTERNET, GET OFF I NEED TO USE THE PHONE" haha

[ZenoDLC]

Gameline, requires expensive hardware, has questionable game choices, relies on being online....

So basically Stadia?

[joonpak]

Chatting on AIM during high school years is a fond memory.

[gamewizardks]

I'm old enough to remember when those free disks AOL mailed out were floppies.

[ralphus]

I remember signing up in 1996 and just trying over and over to actually go online, because I was always getting the busy signal. Then they came out with the redialer and it would do the work for me. Just hearing that electronic modem sound after it connected followed by "Welcome! You've got mail!" was like winning the lottery.

[markmerzweiler]

When most Americans could get faster internet connectivity at a cheaper price through their cable provider...that doomed AOL

[JohnCroucherAU]

“Free trial” but you could keep signing up with a new CD. So many CDs used for hours of online age of empires.

[ironicdivinemandatestan]

My dad still has an aol email. The "You've got mail!" sound still plays.

[applejacks]

As a trucker back then and still, I'd have my phone cord in my laptop bag so I could plug in to the phone lines at the truck stop. back then, all the booths in the restaurants had phones.

When booting up AOL, it'd give you a list of phone numbers to select from. If one didnt work or took too long to load, you'd have to click a different one and start over. It was a PIA and slow, but technology was in its infancy, that's just the way it was.

I was impressed it worked at all, and even more impressed that we do the same thing now with a hand held phone! Incredible!!!!

[Me-wkix]

I can't believe Gameline was doing that in '83. It seems like they were maybe a bit too ahead of their time but were kind of part in helping pave the way to what we have now.