My mom has had aol on her ibook (about a year old) and it has done nothing but crash,freeze, and not work. Is this typical for AOL on Mac's. We have done reinstalls to make sure it was not the software but that did not work.
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Why is AOL so horrible?
- Thread starter chrisleeroth
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chrisleeroth said:
Oops. I thought you were going after things like, (1) it's not really internet, (2) their tech support puts one on hold forever, then doesn't speak English well as either 1st, 2nd or 3rd language, (3)gouging their customers with assumed, unauthorized charges (AOL Traveler), (4)mixing accounts and making it extremely difficult to remove one's account from their maze of ineffeciencies. My bad
X
Simple: They are big so they don't have to be good. Sounds similar to MS huh?
Not that all big companies are bad, but more often than not they are comfortable in their position and only do enough to maintain that poistion in the market place. Innovation and product improvment tend to only happen when their position is threatened.
Here is a real life example of this in action in software: I beta tested an EA PS2 game the other day and the only questionaire that I was given was asking if the game I was testing was "as good or better than ____ game." The blanks were filled by the category killers in that particular genre. Another game I tested a few months earlier was actually asking how well the game played, what could be improved, what was wrong, etc. In the first example it was EA simply not wanting to lose their market position where the other company (Edios) was gunning for the top game.
(I never had a good experience with AOL software and used it for over 6 years- [unfortunately])
Have her get another email client/internet service.
Not that all big companies are bad, but more often than not they are comfortable in their position and only do enough to maintain that poistion in the market place. Innovation and product improvment tend to only happen when their position is threatened.
Here is a real life example of this in action in software: I beta tested an EA PS2 game the other day and the only questionaire that I was given was asking if the game I was testing was "as good or better than ____ game." The blanks were filled by the category killers in that particular genre. Another game I tested a few months earlier was actually asking how well the game played, what could be improved, what was wrong, etc. In the first example it was EA simply not wanting to lose their market position where the other company (Edios) was gunning for the top game.
(I never had a good experience with AOL software and used it for over 6 years- [unfortunately])
Have her get another email client/internet service.
Same here
Same here. I was fine using AOL when I used PCs, but since I've switched, I can't stand to even load the program it runs so badly. I've got access through my school so it doesn' tmatter much to me, but I would never recommend AOL to fellow Mac users.
Same here. I was fine using AOL when I used PCs, but since I've switched, I can't stand to even load the program it runs so badly. I've got access through my school so it doesn' tmatter much to me, but I would never recommend AOL to fellow Mac users.
Like no major companies now have english speaking tech support. Even our beloved Apple is Middleeastern basedxsedrinam said:Oops. I thought you were going after things like, (1) it's not really internet, (2) their tech support puts one on hold forever, then doesn't speak English well as either 1st, 2nd or 3rd language, (3)gouging their customers with assumed, unauthorized charges (AOL Traveler), (4)mixing accounts and making it extremely difficult to remove one's account from their maze of ineffeciencies. My bad
X
. If any of you try to deny this you are only kidding yourselves... 
L
Lau
Guest
I think that AOL markets itself as easy to use and understand to people who don't know much about computers, and therefore think they can get away with an awful program and service because they think people won't know any better. Then people who do know better realise how crap it is (like chrisleeroth and his mum), and don't use it anymore, so the only people who use it in the long term are people who don't know much about computers, and so AOL thinks that it can get away with it, and so the hideous cycle continues....
rockthecasbah said:Like no major companies now have english speaking tech support. Even our beloved Apple is Middleeastern based
I've never called AppleCare or the Apple Store and gotten a "middle-eastern" person. I've always spoke with someone in Austin, TX or Elk Grove, CA. I always ask.
However, if anyone has ever used the iMac Web Chat, it is definately outsourced.
Whatever people's opinions are of AOL as a company, your Mom wants her copy of AOL to work. What you describe is not the natural order of things. It sounds like she has a bad installation of AOL for MacOS X. Do other applications exhibit similar behavior? I recommend that she perform some routine maintenance. Launch Disk Utilities and repair permissions. Better yet, boot from a MacOS X CD and run Disk First Aid from within Disk Utilities. Download MacJanitor and run the periodic maintenance routines. I also recommend booting into single-user mode and running fsck -fy from the command prompt. If after all of these actions and she still has problems, you may want to delete all Library files associated with AOL and reinstall it. You may also create a new user account to see if she has the same problem within that account. If after all of this the problem still persists, then it is likely a flawed OS installation. I recommend an Archive and Install reinstallation if reinstallation is required.chrisleeroth said:
MisterMe said:
Ahhhh, the voice of reason... sounds like good advice.
I used AOL for YEARS before I went to DSL with Earthlink. When I called up to cancel the tech rep was astounded at my start date and how long I had been with them... he had never seen someone that early on. I started with AOL right when they came on the scene and had both AOL and CompuServe, finally dropping CompuServe. AOL went through a bad time during their growth years of having a hard time getting connected, but after that, things improved. It is a different experience to be sure, but it is catered to those who are looking for that type of portal... i.e. new users and inexperienced users, although there still some who were like me and just never made the switch.
They do tend to try to be all things to all people these days and the comparison to M$ is appropriate in my opinion.
But your advice seems to be the best... and not just a bash of AOL which isn't helpful.
Woof, Woof - Dawg
AOL is crap, the only reason why they were successful is because they sent everyone 10 CDs in the early days of the internet promising that it was the easiest way to get to the internet. As people started to be more internet/technology literate they realised AOL was crap and that's why they keep losing customers and are basically going to hell. The whole internet inside the internet that AOL has was totally stupid from day 1.
Get a normal ISP that gives you a reliable broadband connection that you can use with any OS and with any browser without having to install anything, nothing to install one less thing that can crash.
Get a normal ISP that gives you a reliable broadband connection that you can use with any OS and with any browser without having to install anything, nothing to install one less thing that can crash.
AOL
I agree that AOL does suck but i am a member(havent used it for dial up/internet connection ever) i just pay 9.95 a month and get email(i liked it back in day cuz it was simple, i have had the account for like 9 years so i ahve stuck with it.....but more importanly i get acess to all of the online subscriptions owned by aol by time warner(fortune, Time etc)......
I agree that AOL does suck but i am a member(havent used it for dial up/internet connection ever) i just pay 9.95 a month and get email(i liked it back in day cuz it was simple, i have had the account for like 9 years so i ahve stuck with it.....but more importanly i get acess to all of the online subscriptions owned by aol by time warner(fortune, Time etc)......
javiercr said:
Actually, AOL grew at first because they offered people that were not net saavy or computer-geeks a way to get on the Internet and learn it in a simple manner. Most people did not know how to use BBS or Usenet.
If they were crap, they would not have grown to become the service they have in size. (people are not going to just sign up and keep a service because they receive 10 discs a month....I receive a hunded credit card offers a year..but I don't have a hundred credit cards).
AOL is really the Internet on training wheels, as people say. It's great for someone with very little knowledge of the Internet or computers or someone who doesn't feel comfortable.
Is it for computer-saavy people? No...but that doesn't make it crap.
You might has well lump MSN, Earthlink, and the other bundled ISP's in there too then.
The reason they are losing customers is not because they are crap. They are losing them because AOL is its own worst enemy. People use AOL, get comfortable with the Internet, and then are able to get broadband and use the Internet without AOL holding their hand (because AOL taught them how to use the Internet).
rockthecasbah said:Like no major companies now have english speaking tech support. Even our beloved Apple is Middleeastern based
Yeah this guy with a very thick middleeastern accent was trying to pass off as "Ryan" I was like, yeah okay...
AppleCare is oriented in the middleeast and the employees are tought to speak english and they even give them American names and locations. How do I know? well, I had to ask "Ryan"
Crap is crap no matter what
AOL, the safety of not using the internet. People who use AOL are fooling themselves into believing that they are on the 'net
. Morons, why they use it, free for 45 days and then they are too stupid of computer users to realize this isn't the internet.
Their service is actual a dis-service to the internet. They claim protection from spam and what not but they are praying you are stupid and can protect them from the evils of the internet. I scream everytime a person says AOL, nothing more than modern day Snake-oil salesman. My opinion, remove the AOL crap and setup a ISP direct to the internet. Grrr.. I HATE AOL.
AOL, the safety of not using the internet. People who use AOL are fooling themselves into believing that they are on the 'net
. Morons, why they use it, free for 45 days and then they are too stupid of computer users to realize this isn't the internet.
Their service is actual a dis-service to the internet. They claim protection from spam and what not but they are praying you are stupid and can protect them from the evils of the internet. I scream everytime a person says AOL, nothing more than modern day Snake-oil salesman. My opinion, remove the AOL crap and setup a ISP direct to the internet. Grrr.. I HATE AOL.
I really think that you need to learn a little history. AOL displaced CompuServe as the dominant online service before most people ever heard of the Internet. Back then, the CD drive was still a curiosity, not a standard computer peripheral. My first AOL disk was a floppy disk stuck to a copy of Macworld magazine.javiercr said:
Back in the day, the 'net was basically bulletin board services, and CompuServe ruled, and the reason AOL moved past CompuServe was mainly because of the use of a graphical interface that made navigating much easier for the novice, and was the wave of the future anyway. AOL was Mac friendly in those days, not so much now.
To characterize everyone that uses AOL as a moron is ludicrous. For many it is just a simple solution. This is where they started, saw no compelling reason to change. For those with greater needs and expertise, yes, they move on to other things, but as with riding a bike, most would be intimidated with a Harley to begin with... they started with pedals. Some still pedal without being a moron, others ride a Harley. To each his/her own.
Woof, Woof - Dawg
To characterize everyone that uses AOL as a moron is ludicrous. For many it is just a simple solution. This is where they started, saw no compelling reason to change. For those with greater needs and expertise, yes, they move on to other things, but as with riding a bike, most would be intimidated with a Harley to begin with... they started with pedals. Some still pedal without being a moron, others ride a Harley. To each his/her own.
Woof, Woof - Dawg
Huh? If you're referring to cable modems, I must completely disagree...DSL is not even an option where I live.dsharits said:AOL is to Windows as Cable is to OS X.
Anyway, I occasionally assist others outside of these forums with their Mac problems (usually by visiting their houses) - I've had nothing but bad experiences with the AOL client for Mac OS X.
Problem #1:
The AOL installer on the CD I had says it's for Mac OS X, but launches Classic when run
Problem #2:
Tried downloading the right installer from AOL's website - says the archive is corrupt after downloading; try AGAIN and it works
Problem #3:
Every time I quit AOL normally when I'm done showing someone one of its features, it unexpectedly quits instead.
Problem #4:
The AOL client sometimes becomes unresponsive and refuses to do anything (even quit) because there are "too many network connections"