AOL Can't Even Give It Away

Herb Greenberg might be too modest to yelp I TOLD YOU SO, but I’m not.

We soooo f***ing TOLD YOU SO. This is truly some of the sweetest news of the post-dotcom decade. Die, AOL, Die. And may it be a long, and utterly miserable death that ends up, in the end, COSTING MORE THAN ALL THE HISTORIC GAINS COMBINED. The injustice is that it won’t cost Steve Case his entire fortune; but it should.

AOL wasn’t just a sham and a charade, it’s razor-wire enclosed prison yard model – euphemistically referred to as walled garden – caused tremendous HARM by constricting subscriber’s ability to explore the REAL internet.

In what would mark a dramatic shift in strategy, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit is considering offering its entire menu of services, including email, free of charge to anyone with a high-speed Internet connection, people familiar with the matter said.

SOURCE: WSJ.com - AOL Mulls Giving Away Service (subscription)