Comcast, eBay may bid for AOL

Contra Costa Times ^ | 2/4/8

[SmithL]

Bay Area cable provider Comcast Corp. and San Jose-based eBay Inc. may be potential bidders for Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, as Microsoft Corp.'s offer for Yahoo Inc. threatens to knock out the two most likely suitors for the Internet unit, Pali Research said.

There's a lack of buyers for AOL, Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Pali Research, said Monday in a note. Still, Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts may be interested in AOL to get its advertising network and Web site, he wrote. Roberts is unlikely to pay more than $10 billion, according to Greenfield. In 2000, AOL purchased Time Warner for $164 billion.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

If they bid for AOL, they’ll be SOL.

[Spktyr]

HAHAHAHA....

Just let AOL die.

[APFel]

If anyone told me that AOL would be in this shape ten years ago, I would have called them insane. But it’s just another example of a company that can’t keep up in an ever-changing tech field.

That, and the bad word of mouth about their services and their strong-arm techniques in order to keep their customers.

Let it burn.

APf

[Right Cal Gal]

Is there anybody out there who still uses AOL if they have any broadband/DSL company available? I used to use their program CD’s for coasters.

[Paleo Conservative]

If anyone told me that AOL would be in this shape ten years ago, I would have called them insane.

Why? Ten years ago I couldn't really see any reason for them to exist when high speed internet connections would eventually become ubiquitous.

[Paleo Conservative]

I used to use their program CD’s for coasters.

I stopped doing that, because I didn't want to accidentally use an important CD as coaster and ruin it.

[bmwcyle]

Sell that stock if you have any.

[Right Cal Gal]

True that.
I miss that matched set of the cute little stick figure. Who never seemed to get past the “dialing” run pose on heavy traffic days.

Also, you know, I kinda miss that “Welcome! You’ve Got Mail!!

[diverteach]

I love eBay! Don’t give me a reason to hate it dammit.

[nkycincinnatikid]

I strung them and decorated my 25’+ tall Norway Spruce for Christmas one year. It was really pretty and a few of them are still stuck way up there.

[kinoxi]

There's a lack of buyers for AOL, Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Pali Research, said Monday in a note. Still, Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts may be interested in AOL to get its advertising network and Web site, he wrote.

[APFel]

Why? Ten years ago I couldn't really see any reason for them to exist when high speed internet connections would eventually become ubiquitous.

Simply because they had the resources and money to evolve and had a HUGE customer base.

I hope that answers your question.

APf

[Paleo Conservative]

Simply because they had the resources and money to evolve and had a HUGE customer base.

They were part of AOL-Time-Warner and had cable modems coming online, but they chose not to make AOL part of the cable modem package. Time-Warner's Road Runner has very poor internet based email compared to AOL or Yahoo! AT&T DSL service is bundled with Yahoo!

[D-fendr]

They were part of AOL-Time-Warner

The part that darn near sunk 'em.

[Inyo-Mono]

AOL: “Almost On Line;” banning web sites with guns, etc. Haven’t received one of their coasters now in couple of years.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

Nostalgia Article - AOL's 2002 $54 BILLION writedown.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020705195040/http://www.upside.com/On_Trial/3cd2d4781.html

THE VERDICT: Is AOL Guilty Of Being SOL
May 03, 2002 02:18 PM ET
by UpsideToday Staff
The defendant:
AOL Time Warner (AOL)

The charge: Being SOL

Judge's commentary:

Final results
The charge: Is AOL guilty of being SOL?
Guilty
Guilty 73%
Not Guilty
Not guilty 27%
Read the original case
Well, we won't belabor our overview of the jury�s decision this week. The prosecution put AOL Time Warner (which we just called AOL, for short) because the company managed to report a quarterly loss of $54 billion. This was also the same quarter that AOL took a $54 billion charge related to goodwill associated with its purchase of Time Warner nearly two years ago.

AOL is definitely the king of the Internet, and is the biggest media company in the world. The company has a presence that is enormous--it owns everything from the world's most-popular online service to TV networks, from Time magazine to the Atlanta Braves. There's a lot of ways for AOL to make money.

But last quarter it lost money like nobody's business. As the prosecution said, no matter how you slice it $54 billion is a lot of money to lose and you can't really put a good spin on that no matter how much goodwill is involved.

Upside juror Sal Amado summed up the feelings of the majority of jurors by saying, 'They are so SOL. Their online subscription service is doomed also.'

The verdict:

Whether AOL's subscription service is doomed remains to be seen, but 73 percent of the Upside jurors voted AOL guilty of being SOL. There's no word yet on whether that $54 billion loss will be made up through higher online access fees or increased subscription rates for Sports Illustrated, but keep your eyes on your monthly statements.

Court adjourned.

---

NOTE: It reads better at the link....

[Spktyr]

The You’ve Got Mail voice actor is doing custom voice recordings for cheap. You can even get YGM and use it with your regular mail program.

[APFel]

Yup. I had Roadrunner back in the day, and I promptly applied for a Hotmail account.

If anything, I thought that AOL would be a survivor. It’s the same company that ran Q-Link, a Commodore 64 online service back in the 1980’s to which I was a subscriber. Nothing lasts forever. Some have less forever than others, I guess.

Never had AOL, though. I relegated that service to online vidiots.

APf

[Paleo Conservative]

Yup. I had Roadrunner back in the day, and I promptly applied for a Hotmail account.

Which was really stupid on the part of AOL-Time-Warner. AOL had a huge IM network and online email capabilities that would have been really nice to integrate into Road Runner service, but they persisted in making AOL the internet with training wheels martketed to people accessing the internet by modem. The only people I know who still use modems to access the internet are people who live too far from the local telephone company switch to use DSL and don't have cable TV.