Other Gadgets (general gadgets) - Page 69

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.) · 05-31-2006, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
PC World's 25 worst tech products of all time

I call BS on AOL as number 1. Now? Sure. But until about 2000, dial up was relevant. Until 1996 or 1997, who else made the internet worthwhile?

baltassoc · 05-31-2006, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I call BS on AOL as number 1. Now? Sure. But until about 2000, dial up was relevant. Until 1996 or 1997, who else made the internet worthwhile?

True. Also Pointcast (which was a victim of its own success, and was pretty damn cool) and the Iomege Zip Drive (which was also a good solution to its problem that was later supplanted by better solutions).

And the CueCat at number 20 is way, way, way too low. Worst.Idea.Ever.

notcasesensitive · 05-31-2006, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I call BS on AOL as number 1. Now? Sure. But until about 2000, dial up was relevant. Until 1996 or 1997, who else made the internet worthwhile?

I disagree. AOL is now and always was terrible (when I say "is now", keep in mind I haven't used AOL in forever, so that assertion is mere speculation). And everything that was said about being forced down America's throat and the use of guerilla tactics to make it impossible to cancel the service are totally true. Even when I was forced to use it in the dawn of the internet era, I recognized it for the crap it was. With the smilies, the cheesy graphics and the content created for the least common denominator. You've Got Mail, indeed.

Gattigap · 05-31-2006, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I call BS on AOL as number 1. Now? Sure. But until about 2000, dial up was relevant. Until 1996 or 1997, who else made the internet worthwhile?

AOL was, and is, much like a sleazy land speculator.

They build a gated community, spend lots of dough to convince people it was the shnizzit, and sold access for fucking millions of dollars. People paid dial up fees to get in, and service providers of every stripe overpaid by a factor of 10 to get access to the millions of Americans who inhabited the place, most of whom had no idea what the Web was and as such were kinda Internet retards.

Eventually, once more credible competitors came on to the scene, accompanied by the arrival of broadband, the inhabitants began to look around and discover that this golden fucking palace gated community actually had a good number of old tires laying around in the common areas, and grass growing through the sidewalks. So they started leaving in droves.

Sure, AOL was relevant during its heyday, but lots of people got fucked doing deals with them, the features blew, and folks didn't walk away feeling the love.

Hank Chinaski · 05-31-2006, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Even when I was forced to use it in the dawn of the internet era, I recognized it for the crap it was. With the smilies, the cheesy graphics and the content created for the least common denominator. You've Got Mail, indeed.

you're saying BEFORE you saw the improved providers you knew AOL was not good, and you knew specific improvements- not just general complaints? I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit right here.

Replaced_Texan · 05-31-2006, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
you're saying BEFORE you saw the improved providers you knew AOL was not good, and you knew specific improvements- not just general complaints? I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit right here.

My first providers were institutions of higher learning, which always kicked AOL's ass. I wept for my parents that they had to settle for AOL when the real internet was out there.

notcasesensitive · 05-31-2006, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
you're saying BEFORE you saw the improved providers you knew AOL was not good, and you knew specific improvements- not just general complaints? I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit right here.

Call what you like. I'm sure you probably luuuvved AOL's "user friendly" format and neato graphics. I would have rather had a cursor flashing on black screen than the crap they passed off as content there in the mid 90s. It is the same problem that Yahoo still has, in fact. They cater to a bunch of 15 yo girls, from the best I can tell by looking at the graphics they choose.

Thankfully the cursor flashing on black screen option was still around back then.

notcasesensitive · 05-31-2006, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
My first providers were institutions of higher learning, which always kicked AOL's ass. I wept for my parents that they had to settle for AOL when the real internet was out there.

My whole family had the college internet access. My mom was using e-mail to communicate with people long before I ever had it. This is the only way that my mom has ever been ahead of the curve, technologically speaking.

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.) · 05-31-2006, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
I would have rather had a cursor flashing on black screen than the crap they passed off as content there in the mid 90s. .

In the mid 90s, other than AOL there was only a cursor flashing. You can't judge AOL then against your standards now. It sucks now, to be sure, but it didn't then.

Quick question--who remembers the name of the browser you used before Netscape (which was before IE, which I hope everyone has replaced with something else)?

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.) · 05-31-2006, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
you're saying BEFORE you saw the improved providers you knew AOL was not good, and you knew specific improvements- not just general complaints? I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit right here.

2.

College internet sucked in the early 90s. there was email, but not much more.

Gattigap · 05-31-2006, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
In the mid 90s, other than AOL there was only a cursor flashing. You can't judge AOL then against your standards now. It sucks now, to be sure, but it didn't then.

Quick question--who remembers the name of the browser you used before Netscape (which was before IE, which I hope everyone has replaced with something else)?

Mosaic.

notcasesensitive · 05-31-2006, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
In the mid 90s, other than AOL there was only a cursor flashing. You can't judge AOL then against your standards now. It sucks now, to be sure, but it didn't then.

Quick question--who remembers the name of the browser you used before Netscape (which was before IE, which I hope everyone has replaced with something else)?

I am not. You guys are being intentionally dense? AOL sucked then. It did. The way they set it up was for a demographic that I did not belong to or want to belong to. I did not want to chat with housewives in Debuque about recipes or set up friends groups with other Sk8erGirlz. And it was an impediment to getting to actual internet content. And it was poorly designed. And yes, I realized that then. I would have thought that most people posting here would agree.

Controversial stance - emoticons and icons and chat groups does not equal content. Where is Al Gore when I need him?

ltl/fb · 05-31-2006, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
In the mid 90s, other than AOL there was only a cursor flashing. You can't judge AOL then against your standards now. It sucks now, to be sure, but it didn't then.

Quick question--who remembers the name of the browser you used before Netscape (which was before IE, which I hope everyone has replaced with something else)?

Um, wouldn't preferring the flashing cursor be saying that AOL sucked even then? Like, it was so annoying, that having basically nothing was better. To put it in terms I might understand -- even if I couldn't have sex toys, even if I couldn't masturbate, I would not fuck AOL -- I'd rather be orgasm-free for the rest of my life.

I remember, early/mid-90s, somehow signing onto listservs that were things where people discussed stuff but it didn't seem like they were through a web browser. About body art. Now, I can do all the internet I want, but don't know how to get to those. Weird.

I don't remember using browsers in college. The listserv stuff was something I did at work (on my lunch hour).

Edited to change "someone" to "AOL" and to add this clarifying note that AOL is that bad at content/sex that I'd give it up altogether, more or less. And that something good at work may have just become a total nightmare. And that apparently this is affecting not just my ability to express myself, but my handwriting.

OTOH, at least I'm not working in actual salt mines. And my life is overall really good, right? I mean, better than like 90% or more of lives on the planet.

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.) · 05-31-2006, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
And it was poorly designed. And yes, I realized that then. I would have thought that most people posting here would agree.

Now that I have Tivo, I think VCRs suck. But I thought VCRs were the greatest thing since sliced bread when they were introduced, at least until CD players came along, which made me realize that vinyl albums sucked, and always did.

How was it an impediment to the internet? You could always fire up mosaic (good work, Gatti) and browse using that. my favorite site was blinkingcursor.com.

Hank Chinaski · 05-31-2006, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
I am not. You guys are being intentionally dense? AOL sucked then. It did. The way they set it up was for a demographic that I did not belong to or want to belong to. I did not want to chat with housewives in Debuque about recipes or set up friends groups with other Sk8erGirlz. And it was an impediment to getting to actual internet content. And it was poorly designed. And yes, I realized that then. I would have thought that most people posting here would agree.

Controversial stance - emoticons and icons and chat groups does not equal content. Where is Al Gore when I need him?

I just felt you were being a little too "all that." I'm actually a little too young to remember AOL very well.