I think the OP's parents have "AOL for Broadband", which is a $10 a month service which requires broadband through a real ISP and basically holds the user's hand the way their dialup crap does and resets their homepage to AOL to foster feelings of familiarity. It's a crock... but then AOL's dialup is too :roll:
I think the OP's parents have "AOL for Broadband", which is a $10 a month service which requires broadband through a real ISP and basically holds the user's hand the way their dialup crap does and resets their homepage to AOL to foster feelings of familiarity. It's a crock... but then AOL's dialup is too :roll:
Yeah thats what I need. A bunch of nerds with my mom's phone number.
<Insert favorite MOM joke here>
TheLonelyPhoenix
Diamond Member
- Feb 15, 2004
- 5,594
- 1
- 0
Im not trying to change them. They like being informed. I brought it up with them and gave a few reasons and they just wanted to hear some other reasons why so many people dont like AOL. They want to become if anything just more informed on the matter. Its not a do or die thing. If they dont switch thats fine because I can still sign on AT when im home since they have DSL. They are just looking for reasons, that's all.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
- 25,195
- 0
- 56
Teh internet is a big scary place for old folks...
Seriously though, AOL is miserable, I put together 3 different systems for my father in law, and over the years each & every one got so screwed up with some new poorly written hunk of the AOL front end that I finally just quit providing tech support for him, it was just too maddening.
He bought a Dell before i could get him set up with a good deal, he'll never leave AOL
Just booting up an AOL machine makes me feel like I'm going to have a seizure, all those windows & the proprietary interface are irritating.
I think for my father in law, he has old virtual friends in the chat rooms & doesn't want to leave them.
Seriously though, AOL is miserable, I put together 3 different systems for my father in law, and over the years each & every one got so screwed up with some new poorly written hunk of the AOL front end that I finally just quit providing tech support for him, it was just too maddening.
He bought a Dell before i could get him set up with a good deal, he'll never leave AOL
Just booting up an AOL machine makes me feel like I'm going to have a seizure, all those windows & the proprietary interface are irritating.
I think for my father in law, he has old virtual friends in the chat rooms & doesn't want to leave them.
Why AOL Sucks
- The AOL ftp uploader ... This "toy" is an embarrassment requiring the user to upload each and every file ... one at a time ... and ... type the name of each and every file not once but twice to complete the drawn out process (about twenty clicks per file ! ... plus typing). I found later that buying and configuring WS_ftpPro solved this problem. But ... It was painfully apparent that AOL did not want its users to make heavy use of their free megabytes of storage space.
- The URL of every AOL user page is http://members.aol.com/joe_user , rather that something less lengthy such as mb.aol.com or m.aol.com ... why all the extra letters? ... I inquired about this but got no reply and finally moved my site off AOL's servers and onto Verio for reliability and my own domain. You see, AOL can't offer you a personal domain name (even if you pay for it) because it would carry no advertisment for AOL.
- Currently, every user page is http://home.aol.com/Joe_user ... PLUS ... you are forced to display an AOL banner (they supply it as an Ask Jeeves type frame).
- They still kick you off at unexpected intervals. I've found myself logged off for inactivity after as little as 5 minutes, i.e. log on and go to the Web and 5 minutes later ... hasta la vista. Reason: You're only supposed to look at their stuff. They actively hinder your exploration of the rest of the web.
- My step-daughter downloaded AOL 5.0 (as a favor to me). She chose the "default" option and caused many problems since doing so gives AOL the right to overun your hard drive. They run amuck resetting everything to their advantage. They battle their competitors using your hard drive as the battlefield.
- They "hijacked" my icons so that all HTM files would open ... AND ... connect to AOL when clicked.
- I had AOL 4.0 on my hard drive but couldn't use it until I found out how to disable 5.0.
- I had Freei.net on my desktop but couldn't use it because ... to AOL ... the use of another service is forbidden even if you don't have AOL loaded at the time and click on another company's icon !
- Why would anyone have the gall to do this even if you chose them as your default browser? I call this semi-legal manuever ... "spiking" in deference to Ty Cobb who would slide into a base and try to injure the oposing fielder.
Expect to see many more examples of spiking in coming years ... including actual criminal debilitation or outright destruction of a competitor's software during installation of a new program (on your hard drive).
- I tried to uninstall 5.0 but AOL's uninstaller can only be used to uninstall older copies of AOL software. I didn't dare use the Windows uninstaller because neither of these companies is trustworthy today. I suspected that I would have been left with no ISP service at all and would be facing a possible reformat.
- I located a file in AOL's software that looked suspicious so I deleted that and could then use Freei.net.
- Whenever I opened IE5 ... AOL started as well and tried to connect to the internet. I disabled this screwy crap in IE5's preferences. But the question remains as to why that option exists in IE5. It takes three clicks to open IE5, AOL and go on line ... Why would anyone want to default themselves into no option to open just IE5? To save two clicks? ... This is collusion. Tying one piece of software to another using the specious argument of saving mouse-clicks, is patently absurd.
- AOL will not allow it's members to use another email program. If you click on a "mailto:" tag on a web page, you might have, say, Outlook Express open and ask to be configurred ... but ... you need a mail server, i.e. info from AOL which they won't give out. I tried to get an answer from AOL techies and got a reply which offered a means to use another email program but it was so abstruse that I would have had to take an email configuration class to figure it out.
Thus, AOL members must have an email address if they wish to email someone from the browser (outside of AOL's window) ... and go back to the AOL window to use it's mail program. Sometimes I've had to examine the html code for a page to find the email address which is not always shown on the web page ... and God help you if it's embedded in a frame.
AOL's truncated version of IE5 or 4 or whatever the hell it is ... is really quite inferior to the others when used independently. And I don't like that big fat tool bar, which I don't use, taking up my real estate. - I made the mistake of using the AOL Visa Card to pay my monthly bill. Later, I decided that the interest rate was too high and wanted to use another card. Well, would you believe it ... once you have chosen AOL Visa there is no way out. You're stuck with it. I've been all round this ... and there is no way to do it and no explanation. I wonder what the explanation is? Well, my only out was to pay that card in full every month to avoid interest. Also, they have a "rewards program". When you get enough points you get a free month ... well, HOW you do this is very well buried so that many people will just give up. I dug it out.
- Lately, I've been getting cut off all the time just like two years ago. But then ... who doesn't? I don't find this service reliable at all.
- Sometimes I click on an item in AOL's opening screen and get treated to 63 images to load . They have more graphics than content. Is it any wonder that I want to go out on the web independently? Who wants to sit and wait for minutes to see buttons & pics when all I want is the football score? And ... the first window that comes up (eventually) rarely has anything to do with the what you clicked ... It's just another step along the way to that info (including more ads).
- I got email the other day from AOL stating that my preference to not see their pop up ads is due to expire soon ! ... Is that gall or what? And I pay for this ????
AOL causes system lockups, Most techs do not support AOL or even charge extra if AOL is installed because of all the system changes it makes. Boggs down the operating system, why pay for handholding when they obviously do not need it. AOL does rip people off, they continue to charge credit cards long after the service has been canceled. Once installed, the only true way to remove it is to reformat the machine.
Thanks for the post Ornery and Ulfwald... That's all I was looking for. Just reasons/explanations why AOL isnt the mightiest internet out there.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
- 25,195
- 0
- 56
Amused
Elite Member
- Apr 14, 2001
- 57,547
- 20,261
- 146
I still have a BYOA account with AOL because it's the E-mail address I've had since I first had one and I use it for shopping now... so all the spam goes there instead of my insightbb account.
Let me clear up some myths:
I have never had the AOL client freeze up my system.
In the last two years, AOL has done an AMAZING job cleaning up spam and adding customizable filters. I get a tiny fraction of the spam I used to get on my account. Maybe 1-3 a day.
AOL is far less likely to spread viruses for newbies, unlike outlook express. All the self propagating email viruses do not work with AOL. If they get a virus, it stops with them unless they forward it intentionally.
All the "default" stuff is EASILY stopped. In fact, AOL will NOT become your default E-mail or browser unless you click "yes" to a VERY clear and specific prompt. And even then, if you do click yes, it is easily reversed.
The E-mail is extremely easy to use. This is why, when dealing with computer illiterate idiots like my GF's mother, I have them use AOL. The damn thing is fool proof.
I have never been told any of my preferences were set to expire, including the preference that turns off popup ads within AOL's client.
Finally, I have never had trouble installing, or uninstalling multiple versions of AOL. Though, I've never had more than two incremental versions on a system at one time. Why would you have any more?
Is AOL great? No. It's made for newbies and idiots. But it's not the devil so many make it out to be. If your folks are comfortable with it, leave them be.
Let me clear up some myths:
I have never had the AOL client freeze up my system.
In the last two years, AOL has done an AMAZING job cleaning up spam and adding customizable filters. I get a tiny fraction of the spam I used to get on my account. Maybe 1-3 a day.
AOL is far less likely to spread viruses for newbies, unlike outlook express. All the self propagating email viruses do not work with AOL. If they get a virus, it stops with them unless they forward it intentionally.
All the "default" stuff is EASILY stopped. In fact, AOL will NOT become your default E-mail or browser unless you click "yes" to a VERY clear and specific prompt. And even then, if you do click yes, it is easily reversed.
The E-mail is extremely easy to use. This is why, when dealing with computer illiterate idiots like my GF's mother, I have them use AOL. The damn thing is fool proof.
I have never been told any of my preferences were set to expire, including the preference that turns off popup ads within AOL's client.
Finally, I have never had trouble installing, or uninstalling multiple versions of AOL. Though, I've never had more than two incremental versions on a system at one time. Why would you have any more?
Is AOL great? No. It's made for newbies and idiots. But it's not the devil so many make it out to be. If your folks are comfortable with it, leave them be.
SpunkyJones
Diamond Member
- Apr 1, 2004
- 5,090
- 1
- 81
Leave the parents alone, AOL just puts a nice pretty face on the internet for them. If they are happy, just let them be.
Amused
Elite Member
- Apr 14, 2001
- 57,547
- 20,261
- 146
That's cool. But you need to understand WHY they are so comfortable with AOL. Like I said above, the E-mail is fool proof and VERY user friendly.
So if that's what they want, just teach them how to use an external browser for web surfing and leave it at that.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
- 25,195
- 0
- 56
i didnt read all the posts...but if they're hesitant to give up their email addy..
sign em up for the $2.99 aol plan. for 2.99 all you keep is your email addresses. you can't use the aol software at all, so no byoa or dialup. (you have to use aol.com to check mail) then eventually dump that and sign em up for gmail, hotmail...etc.
sign em up for the $2.99 aol plan. for 2.99 all you keep is your email addresses. you can't use the aol software at all, so no byoa or dialup. (you have to use aol.com to check mail) then eventually dump that and sign em up for gmail, hotmail...etc.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 24K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter