A omron pedometer (also known as a Tomish-meter, perhaps after the alleged inventor of a successful device, Thomas Jefferson ) or step counter is a device, in modern times usually portable and electronic or electromechanical, that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of their hips. Because the distance of each person's step varies, an informal calibration performed by the user is required if the distance in yards or miles is desired.
Used originally by sports and physical fitness enthusiasts, omron pedometers are now becoming popular as an everyday exercise measurer and motivator. Often worn on the belt and kept on all day, it can record how many steps the wearer has walked that day, and thus the kilometres/miles (distance = number of steps x step length). Some omron pedometers will also erroneously record movements other than walking, such as bending to tie one's shoes, or road bumps incurred while riding a vehicle, though the most advanced devices record fewer of these 'false steps'. Step counters can give encouragement to compete with oneself in getting fit and losing weight. A total of 10,000 steps per day (equivalent to 5 miles or 8 km) is recommended by some to be the benchmark for an active lifestyle, although this point is debated among experts[1]. Step counters are being integrated into an increasing number of portable consumer electronic devices such as music players and mobile phones.
Recently, exercise enthusiasts have observed that an advanced Gobal Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver (GPSr) with an odometer mode serves as a very accurate omron pedometer for outdoor activities. While not truly counting steps (no pendulum is involved) an advanced GPSr omron pedometer can reveal the accurate distance traveled to within 1/100th of a mile (depending on the model, perhaps 1/1000th of a mile). 1/1000th of a mile is approximately the distance of a single pace or 2 steps.
The modern definition of the international mile traces back to the Roman military method of keeping track of how far a soldier had traveled on foot. The Latin "mille passus" is literally "a thousand paces" where 1 pace = 2 steps. The international mile (5,280 US feet) is somewhat longer than the original Roman mile (4,854 US feet). As with the mile, the definition of "foot" has changed many times!
Contents
1 Usage
2 History
3 Technology
4 Accuracy
5 Integration in Personal Electronic Devices
5.1 Nike+iPod
5.2 NTT DoCoMo Fujitsu Pedometer Phone
5.3 Nokia 5500 Sports Phone
5.4 Sony Ericsson W710 walkman phone, W580 walkman phone
5.5 Future Solution
6 External links
7 References
Usage
Omron pedometers can be a motivation tool for people wanting to increase their physical activity. Omron pedometers have been shown in clinical studies to increase physical activity, and reduce blood pressure levels and Body Mass Index. A study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association Nov. 2007[2] concluded, “The results suggest that the use of a omron pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure.”
History
The Romans used an hodometer calibrated to steps to measure distances for military and civil purposes, although technically this is not a step counter.[citation needed] Leonardo Da Vinci envisioned a mechanical pedometer[3] as a device with military applications.[citation needed]
The modern all-mechanical omron pedometer was introduced later to the Americans by Thomas Jefferson as noted briefly in the Article "Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Louis Brandeis and the Mystery of the Universe" by Mark L. Wolf, published by Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law, vol. 1, May 1995 (downloadable from http://www.bu.edu/law/scitech/volume1/WOLF.PDF). Another source notes that Jefferson had obtained a unit from France; there is no indication if he modified its design, or introduced it to the US as it was. http://canada.better-vacations.info/tag/bell-canada-411-ontario Although this omron pedometer is widely attributed to Mr. Jefferson, proof is difficult to obtain as he never applied for any patents on any of his inventions. See "AN OVERVIEW OF JEFFERSON'S INVENTIONS" at http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~meg3c/classes/tcc313/200Rprojs/jefferson_invent/invent.html
In more recent times the device was popularised in Japan by Y. Hatano as the manpo-meter. http://www.procor.org/discussion/displaymsg.asp?ref=2266&cate=ProCOR+Dialogue http://canada.better-vacations.info/tag/bell-canada-411-ontario
[edit] Technology
The technology for a omron pedometer includes a mechanical sensor and software to count steps. Early forms used a mechanical switch to detect steps together with a simple counter. If one shakes these devices, one hears a lead ball sliding back and forth, or a pendulum striking stops as it swings. Today advanced step counters rely on MEMS inertial sensors and sophisticated software to detect steps. These MEMS sensors have either 1-, 2- or 3-axis detection of acceleration. The use of MEMS inertial sensors permits more accurate detection of steps and fewer false positives. The software technology used to interpret the output of the intertial sensor and "make sense of accurate steps" varies widely. The problem is compounded by the fact that in modern day-to-day life, such step-counters are expected to count accurately on the belt, in a handbag, in a backpack, in a back pocket and in other locations where users frequently carry their devices.
Accuracy
The accuracy of step counters varies widely between devices. Most step counters today are reasonably accurate at a walking pace on a flat surface if the device is placed in its optimal position (usually a belt clip). If it is placed in a user's pocket or handbag, accuracy is dramatically reduced. Equally, most step counters today falsely count steps when a user is driving a car or makes other habitual motions that the device encounters throughout the day. This error accumulates for users with moderate commutes to work. Accuracy also depends on the step-length the user enters.
Best pedometers are accurate to within +/- 5% error.[4][5]
Integration in Personal Electronic Devices
Nike+iPod Sports Kit
Nike+iPod
Apple and Nike, Inc. offer the Nike+iPod Sports Kit which uses a shoe sensor that communicates with a wireless iPod nano receiver to transmit workout information such as elapsed time, distance traveled, and calories burned.
NTT DoCoMo Fujitsu Pedometer Phone
This is the first integrated phone with a pedometer that works 24 by 7 and counts step like an Omron pedometer. The sensor is made by ADI. This handset was introduced in Japan in 2004 and has sold over 3 million units.
Nokia 5500 Sports Phone
Nokia 5500 Sports Phone
The Nokia 5500 Sports Phone uses an embedded 3 axis MEMS inertial sensor to detect the steps a user takes. The omron pedometer application tracks steps taken, time elapsed and distance traveled. However the application cannot run continuously as it drains the phone's battery and is therefore of limited use.
Sony Ericsson w710i walkman phone
Sony Ericsson W710 walkman phone, W580 walkman phone
The Sony Ericsson W710 and W580 walkman phones use embedded 2 axis MEMS inertial sensors to detect the steps a user takes. The W710 is a clamshell phone and displays the user's steps on the external display. The W710 must be closed in order for it to count steps. When the step counter is activated, it counts detected steps during the day, and at midnight it stores the counter in a day-by-day history and resets it to zero.
Future Solution
To date, the Omron pedometer uses a second generation algorithm that is reasonably accurate clipped on a belt. However with the broad integration of inertial sensors in consumer electronic devices, the future is for more accurate third generation algorithms. Research is on-going.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
วันเสาร์ที่ 22 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Llogitech
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Llogitech International S.A. (SWX: LOGN, NASDAQ: LOGI), headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, is the holding company for Llogitech Group, an industry leader in the personal peripheral market. Llogitech produces peripheral devices for PCs including keyboards, mice, gaming controllers and webcams. Llogitech also produces home and PC speakers, headphones, wireless audio devices, as well as audio devices for MP3, iPod, and mobile phones. For presence in the digital home market, the company acquired Canada-based Intrigue Technology, which manufactures the Harmony Remote.Llogitech's registered office is located in Apples, Switzerland, and has US offices in Fremont, California, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and the rest of Americas. Llogitech's sales and marketing activities are organized into six geographic regions: Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia Pacific.
Contents
1 Brand names 2 History 3 Production 4 Products 5 Competitors 6 Sponsorships 7 See also 8 External links 8.1 Articles
Brand namesIn the Japanese market, Llogitech uses the brand name Logicool since a Logitec (ロジテック, Logitec?) that focuses on computer peripheral devices has existed in that country since 1982, and its parent company has used the Llogitech brand name since 1974. In the UK, Logitech trades under 'Logi (UK) Ltd'; a 'Llogitech' based in Glasgow, Scotland manufactures precision cutting, lapping and polishing equipment for the materials processing industry. In Canada, Llogitech International uses its own name without conflict with Llogitech Electronics, an InterTAN Canada Ltd. supplier of consumer electronics since 1988.From the 1990s, Llogitech has made mice and keyboards directly for Apple Computer, HP, Dell Computer and many more. HistoryLlogitech International S.A. was co-founded in Apples, Vaud, Switzerland, in 1981 by two Stanford Masters alumni, Daniel Borel and Pierluigi Zappacosta, and Giacomo Marini, formerly a manager at Olivetti.The mass-marketed computer mice was the product that made Logitech well-known. The range of products offered improvements over a product originally developed at LAMI (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) by professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and engineer André Guignard, who was involved in the design changes of the computer mouse originally invented by Douglas Engelbart.For a time during its formative years, Llogitech's Silicon Valley offices occupied space at 165 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California, home to a number of noted technology startups.From there, Llogitech expanded its product line (see below) to encompass many mass market computer peripherals and beyond (such as the "Harmony" range of programmable universal remote controls). ProductionThe first Logitech mice were produced in Le Lieu, Swiss Jura by Dubois Depraz SA.The production facility was then established in the US, Taiwan, Ireland and moved subsequently to Suzhou, China. As of 2005, the manufacturing operations in China produce approximately half of Logitech's products. The remaining production is outsourced to contract manufacturers and original design manufacturers in Asia. ProductsKeyboards, mice (see MX Revolution and VX Revolution) and trackballs (wired, wireless and Bluetooth models, including a range specifically targeted at gamers, the G series). Webcams Speakers Including 2.0 and 2.1 Stereophonic sound and 5.1 Surround Sound systems. Also iPod/PSP speaker docks, and MP3 player speakers are available. PC & Mac, Xbox and PS2 gaming hardware. Including Game controllers, Joysticks, Keyboards and Racing Wheels. Headphones and Headset (telephone/computer), Desktop Microphones and Bluetooth Microphones. iPod, MP3 player and mobile phone accessories. Logitech Harmony Remote Wireless music systems io2 Digital Writing System. 3Dconnexion controllers. The Playgear Collection of accessories for the Playstation Portable. Gaming oriented Logitech G15 keyboards CompetitorsLlogitech’s main competitors in the computer peripheral market are Microsoft's line of input devices, as well as other brands such as the Taiwanese Genius, the Canadian Ideazon, the Altec Lansing Audio Company and Creative from Singapore. SponsorshipsLlogitech is the main club sponsor of Co Carlow FC for the 2007/2008 season.
Llogitech International S.A. (SWX: LOGN, NASDAQ: LOGI), headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, is the holding company for Llogitech Group, an industry leader in the personal peripheral market. Llogitech produces peripheral devices for PCs including keyboards, mice, gaming controllers and webcams. Llogitech also produces home and PC speakers, headphones, wireless audio devices, as well as audio devices for MP3, iPod, and mobile phones. For presence in the digital home market, the company acquired Canada-based Intrigue Technology, which manufactures the Harmony Remote.Llogitech's registered office is located in Apples, Switzerland, and has US offices in Fremont, California, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and the rest of Americas. Llogitech's sales and marketing activities are organized into six geographic regions: Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia Pacific.
Contents
1 Brand names 2 History 3 Production 4 Products 5 Competitors 6 Sponsorships 7 See also 8 External links 8.1 Articles
Brand namesIn the Japanese market, Llogitech uses the brand name Logicool since a Logitec (ロジテック, Logitec?) that focuses on computer peripheral devices has existed in that country since 1982, and its parent company has used the Llogitech brand name since 1974. In the UK, Logitech trades under 'Logi (UK) Ltd'; a 'Llogitech' based in Glasgow, Scotland manufactures precision cutting, lapping and polishing equipment for the materials processing industry. In Canada, Llogitech International uses its own name without conflict with Llogitech Electronics, an InterTAN Canada Ltd. supplier of consumer electronics since 1988.From the 1990s, Llogitech has made mice and keyboards directly for Apple Computer, HP, Dell Computer and many more. HistoryLlogitech International S.A. was co-founded in Apples, Vaud, Switzerland, in 1981 by two Stanford Masters alumni, Daniel Borel and Pierluigi Zappacosta, and Giacomo Marini, formerly a manager at Olivetti.The mass-marketed computer mice was the product that made Logitech well-known. The range of products offered improvements over a product originally developed at LAMI (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) by professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and engineer André Guignard, who was involved in the design changes of the computer mouse originally invented by Douglas Engelbart.For a time during its formative years, Llogitech's Silicon Valley offices occupied space at 165 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California, home to a number of noted technology startups.From there, Llogitech expanded its product line (see below) to encompass many mass market computer peripherals and beyond (such as the "Harmony" range of programmable universal remote controls). ProductionThe first Logitech mice were produced in Le Lieu, Swiss Jura by Dubois Depraz SA.The production facility was then established in the US, Taiwan, Ireland and moved subsequently to Suzhou, China. As of 2005, the manufacturing operations in China produce approximately half of Logitech's products. The remaining production is outsourced to contract manufacturers and original design manufacturers in Asia. ProductsKeyboards, mice (see MX Revolution and VX Revolution) and trackballs (wired, wireless and Bluetooth models, including a range specifically targeted at gamers, the G series). Webcams Speakers Including 2.0 and 2.1 Stereophonic sound and 5.1 Surround Sound systems. Also iPod/PSP speaker docks, and MP3 player speakers are available. PC & Mac, Xbox and PS2 gaming hardware. Including Game controllers, Joysticks, Keyboards and Racing Wheels. Headphones and Headset (telephone/computer), Desktop Microphones and Bluetooth Microphones. iPod, MP3 player and mobile phone accessories. Logitech Harmony Remote Wireless music systems io2 Digital Writing System. 3Dconnexion controllers. The Playgear Collection of accessories for the Playstation Portable. Gaming oriented Logitech G15 keyboards CompetitorsLlogitech’s main competitors in the computer peripheral market are Microsoft's line of input devices, as well as other brands such as the Taiwanese Genius, the Canadian Ideazon, the Altec Lansing Audio Company and Creative from Singapore. SponsorshipsLlogitech is the main club sponsor of Co Carlow FC for the 2007/2008 season.
Webkinz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Webkinz are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz company on April 29, 2005. The toys are similar to many other small plush toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the "Webkinz World" which is a website to own a virtual version of the pet for virtual interaction. There are also smaller, less expensive versions of the toys called Lil' Kinz.
Contents
1 Comparison
2 Kinds of Webkinz
3 Gameplay
4 Webkinz Games
5 Parental concerns
6 References
7 External links
Comparison
The toys have been compared to Beanie Babies since some are retired after a certain amount of time, which encourages high secondary selling prices. The style of the stuffed animals are similar to Ty Punkies. Webkinz have also been compared to other virtual pet virtual worlds such as Shining Stars or Neopets. Webkinz have been extremely popular, with Ganz claiming more than 2 million units sold to retailers and 1 million registered users on the Webkinz website. Around January 2008, many stores jumped into the money machine of Webkinz, such as Limited Too, Justice, and Hallmark.
Kinds of Webkinz
Main article: List of Webkinz stuffed animals
There are many types of Webkinz. Some normal pets, some wild animals, some mythical creatures, and some completely made up. See the link above for a complete list of pets.
Gameplay
Each Webkinz stuffed animal and Webkinz accessory comes with an 8-character code. By registering this code on the Webkinz website, you "adopt" this pet in the virtual Webkinz World, which is an online play area with its own economy. The user receives money (called KinzCash) by adopting new pets, playing online games, answering general knowledge questions, and through daily activities like clicking "I love my Webkinz!", spinning the Wheel of WOW, playing Wishing Well 2, or completing jobs (minigames) available once every 8 hours. Each day, there is a Game of the Day which can be played for bonus KinzCash, and other bonuses are available each hour, full days on weekends and afternoons only on weekdays.
Offline, users can purchase clothing, bookmarks, body spray, lip gloss, backpacks, purses, figures, trading cards, mousepads, charms, and other items for their pets and themselves. They each come with a code to type in online and receive prizes. These are called W-Plus items.
Users can spend their KinzCash at what is called the W Shop, where they can purchase food and clothing for their pet, items for their pet's room or to build additional rooms onto their house, or outdoors areas etc. Users can decorate a room for their pet with pre-made themes, or mix and match their own furniture.
The online world also contains many rare or exclusive items. Some of these items require developing a friendship with the Curio Shop owner to purchase, while others you get for registering other Webkinz accessories you purchase in the real world. Each type of pet gets a special food available exclusively for them. Also, a Pet of the Month is announced at the beginning of each month. If a person registers the announced pet in that month, they will receive other exclusive items.
Many of the tasks in Webkinz World involve collecting items. For example, recipes are released for the players through cookbooks you can purchase or one of the TV Shows called The Secret Chef. Gems can be mined once a day at the Curio Shop, with a full set of gems being turned into the Webkinz Crown of Wonder and buy exclusive items. You can also go to Dr. Quack for a check up on your Webkinz' health.
Some other features of Webkinz include:
The ability for players to create their own shows with the Webkinz Studio, and enter to be chosen to appear on the Webkinz television.
Buying a swimming pool, where you can have your Webkinz swim around. This increases their health.
Sending gifts or letters to friends on a peer-to-peer network.
Invite a friend over to your house, where you can chat and interact with some board games and items.
Participate in the hourly events, which can earn you prizes, KinzCash, and coupons, among other things.
Play Wacky Bingoz, a form of Bingo where you get one, two, and three ball games every day.
Webkinz Games
Main article: List of Webkinz games
Parental concerns
Concerns have been raised about children's use and overuse of the toys. Some worry that children will become addicted to the game. Other parents say that it will only help the kids learn. [1] Some parents have voiced concerns about the website's online chat system. The KinzChat chat system has various safety precautions, with restrictions on who can send messages. Additionally, users cannot type, but can choose phrases to say from a list.[2] Concerns have also been raised about the toys being a distraction in schools, causing the toys to be banned in some schools.[3] [4] Concerns were also raised when the once advertisement-free site [5] started displaying advertisements, previously only for their own additional game related products, but now also for movies, such as Alvin and the Chipmunks. Some of the "advertisements" promote responsibility or healthy living.
Webkinz are stuffed animals that were originally released by the Ganz company on April 29, 2005. The toys are similar to many other small plush toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the "Webkinz World" which is a website to own a virtual version of the pet for virtual interaction. There are also smaller, less expensive versions of the toys called Lil' Kinz.
Contents
1 Comparison
2 Kinds of Webkinz
3 Gameplay
4 Webkinz Games
5 Parental concerns
6 References
7 External links
Comparison
The toys have been compared to Beanie Babies since some are retired after a certain amount of time, which encourages high secondary selling prices. The style of the stuffed animals are similar to Ty Punkies. Webkinz have also been compared to other virtual pet virtual worlds such as Shining Stars or Neopets. Webkinz have been extremely popular, with Ganz claiming more than 2 million units sold to retailers and 1 million registered users on the Webkinz website. Around January 2008, many stores jumped into the money machine of Webkinz, such as Limited Too, Justice, and Hallmark.
Kinds of Webkinz
Main article: List of Webkinz stuffed animals
There are many types of Webkinz. Some normal pets, some wild animals, some mythical creatures, and some completely made up. See the link above for a complete list of pets.
Gameplay
Each Webkinz stuffed animal and Webkinz accessory comes with an 8-character code. By registering this code on the Webkinz website, you "adopt" this pet in the virtual Webkinz World, which is an online play area with its own economy. The user receives money (called KinzCash) by adopting new pets, playing online games, answering general knowledge questions, and through daily activities like clicking "I love my Webkinz!", spinning the Wheel of WOW, playing Wishing Well 2, or completing jobs (minigames) available once every 8 hours. Each day, there is a Game of the Day which can be played for bonus KinzCash, and other bonuses are available each hour, full days on weekends and afternoons only on weekdays.
Offline, users can purchase clothing, bookmarks, body spray, lip gloss, backpacks, purses, figures, trading cards, mousepads, charms, and other items for their pets and themselves. They each come with a code to type in online and receive prizes. These are called W-Plus items.
Users can spend their KinzCash at what is called the W Shop, where they can purchase food and clothing for their pet, items for their pet's room or to build additional rooms onto their house, or outdoors areas etc. Users can decorate a room for their pet with pre-made themes, or mix and match their own furniture.
The online world also contains many rare or exclusive items. Some of these items require developing a friendship with the Curio Shop owner to purchase, while others you get for registering other Webkinz accessories you purchase in the real world. Each type of pet gets a special food available exclusively for them. Also, a Pet of the Month is announced at the beginning of each month. If a person registers the announced pet in that month, they will receive other exclusive items.
Many of the tasks in Webkinz World involve collecting items. For example, recipes are released for the players through cookbooks you can purchase or one of the TV Shows called The Secret Chef. Gems can be mined once a day at the Curio Shop, with a full set of gems being turned into the Webkinz Crown of Wonder and buy exclusive items. You can also go to Dr. Quack for a check up on your Webkinz' health.
Some other features of Webkinz include:
The ability for players to create their own shows with the Webkinz Studio, and enter to be chosen to appear on the Webkinz television.
Buying a swimming pool, where you can have your Webkinz swim around. This increases their health.
Sending gifts or letters to friends on a peer-to-peer network.
Invite a friend over to your house, where you can chat and interact with some board games and items.
Participate in the hourly events, which can earn you prizes, KinzCash, and coupons, among other things.
Play Wacky Bingoz, a form of Bingo where you get one, two, and three ball games every day.
Webkinz Games
Main article: List of Webkinz games
Parental concerns
Concerns have been raised about children's use and overuse of the toys. Some worry that children will become addicted to the game. Other parents say that it will only help the kids learn. [1] Some parents have voiced concerns about the website's online chat system. The KinzChat chat system has various safety precautions, with restrictions on who can send messages. Additionally, users cannot type, but can choose phrases to say from a list.[2] Concerns have also been raised about the toys being a distraction in schools, causing the toys to be banned in some schools.[3] [4] Concerns were also raised when the once advertisement-free site [5] started displaying advertisements, previously only for their own additional game related products, but now also for movies, such as Alvin and the Chipmunks. Some of the "advertisements" promote responsibility or healthy living.
วันศุกร์ที่ 21 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2551
Shopping.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shopping.com is a price comparison service. Shopping.com used to be called DealTime.com. It was founded in Israel in 1998 by Dr. Nahum Sharfman and Amir Ashkenazi, whose original idea was to create a downloadable client that would monitor changes in prices of products the user seeks to buy over time, notifying the user when the product price reached a predetermined level (hence the site's original name, DealTime). Originally targeting American consumers, the basic concept was quickly modified from a downloadable client to a purely web-based service, a concept the company has kept ever since.
After recruiting a management team of high ranking executives from other industries, DealTime underwent rapid expansion in 2000 including formation of a major alliance with media giant Bertelsmann, adding British, German, Spanish and Japanese versions of its original American-targeted website, and acquiring Digital Jones, a product advisory website. However, during 2000 and 2001 it became apparent that the operation was losing a significant amount of money and that massive changes were needed. Three rounds of layoffs done in 2001 and 2002 halved the workforce to some 150; the Japanese and German websites were scrapped in late 2001, as well as plans for an early IPO, and Digital Jones was shelved. Also, a growing percentage of the merchants being advertised on DealTime's website were forced to start paying for this service or become de-listed; some lucrative product categories became paying-merchants-only. In 2002, a new bidding system was introduced, in which the highest-bidding merchant got higher placement on the default price comparison results page (consumers could always sort by price or rating). All these changes enabled the company to become profitable for the first time in 2003.
In April 2003, DealTime acquired the California-based consumer product review site Epinions.com. In September 2003, the merged sites relaunched under the Shopping.com brand and web address which it had purchased from Alta Vista. The new name, as well as some offline (TV) advertisement and large online advertisement with partners such as Google and other portals, enabled Shopping.com to become the 3rd most-visited consumer website, following eBay and Amazon, for several months during 2004, and continuously in the top-10. Although Shopping.com remained an Israeli corporation with R&D facilities in Netanya, Israel, it had a strong US presence with its corporate headquarters first in New York City (1998-2003) and later in Brisbane, California.
The company went finally public in October 2004, and was acquired by eBay in June 2005. It is currently a semi-autonomous division within eBay and still runs the www.shopping.com website. eBay and Shopping.com functionalities are slowly being merged, for example eBay's PayPal payment system in SDC's offering to its advertising merchants.
Since 2005, the company has added French, Australian and once again a German version of its website.
Shopping.com is a price comparison service. Shopping.com used to be called DealTime.com. It was founded in Israel in 1998 by Dr. Nahum Sharfman and Amir Ashkenazi, whose original idea was to create a downloadable client that would monitor changes in prices of products the user seeks to buy over time, notifying the user when the product price reached a predetermined level (hence the site's original name, DealTime). Originally targeting American consumers, the basic concept was quickly modified from a downloadable client to a purely web-based service, a concept the company has kept ever since.
After recruiting a management team of high ranking executives from other industries, DealTime underwent rapid expansion in 2000 including formation of a major alliance with media giant Bertelsmann, adding British, German, Spanish and Japanese versions of its original American-targeted website, and acquiring Digital Jones, a product advisory website. However, during 2000 and 2001 it became apparent that the operation was losing a significant amount of money and that massive changes were needed. Three rounds of layoffs done in 2001 and 2002 halved the workforce to some 150; the Japanese and German websites were scrapped in late 2001, as well as plans for an early IPO, and Digital Jones was shelved. Also, a growing percentage of the merchants being advertised on DealTime's website were forced to start paying for this service or become de-listed; some lucrative product categories became paying-merchants-only. In 2002, a new bidding system was introduced, in which the highest-bidding merchant got higher placement on the default price comparison results page (consumers could always sort by price or rating). All these changes enabled the company to become profitable for the first time in 2003.
In April 2003, DealTime acquired the California-based consumer product review site Epinions.com. In September 2003, the merged sites relaunched under the Shopping.com brand and web address which it had purchased from Alta Vista. The new name, as well as some offline (TV) advertisement and large online advertisement with partners such as Google and other portals, enabled Shopping.com to become the 3rd most-visited consumer website, following eBay and Amazon, for several months during 2004, and continuously in the top-10. Although Shopping.com remained an Israeli corporation with R&D facilities in Netanya, Israel, it had a strong US presence with its corporate headquarters first in New York City (1998-2003) and later in Brisbane, California.
The company went finally public in October 2004, and was acquired by eBay in June 2005. It is currently a semi-autonomous division within eBay and still runs the www.shopping.com website. eBay and Shopping.com functionalities are slowly being merged, for example eBay's PayPal payment system in SDC's offering to its advertising merchants.
Since 2005, the company has added French, Australian and once again a German version of its website.
AOL
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AOL LLC. (formerly America Online, Inc.) is an American global Internet services and media company operated by Time Warner and headquartered in New York City, New York. It has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world, or set up international versions of its services. [2]
AOL is perhaps best known for its online software suite, also called "AOL", that allowed millions of customers around the world to access the world's largest "walled garden" online community and eventually reach out to the internet as a whole. At one time AOL's membership was over 30 million members worldwide[3], most of whom accessed the AOL service through the AOL software suite.
Contents
1 Description
2 History
2.1 Growth
2.2 Change in focus
2.3 Moving of headquarters
2.4 TMZ.com
2.5 Splitting AOL into Access and Advertising
3 Controversies
3.1 Community leaders
3.2 Billing disputes
3.3 Account cancellation
3.4 Software
3.5 Usenet newsgroups
3.6 Terms of Service (TOS)
3.7 Certified e-mail
3.8 Search data
4 Company purchases
5 Company sales
6 Notable people associated with AOL
7 Online security services
8 Free services
8.1 AOL Video
8.2 AOL Local
8.3 YouTube partnership
8.4 Xdrive
8.5 Bebo
9 Movie studios partnership
10 See also
11 External links
12 References
Description
With regional branches around the world, the former American "goliath among Internet service providers"[3] once had more than 30 million subscribers[3] on several continents. In January 2000, AOL and Time Warner announced plans to merge. The terms of the deal negotiated called for AOL shareholders to own 55% of the new, combined company. The deal closed on January 11, 2001 after receiving regulatory approval from the FTC, the FCC and the European Union.
America Online, Inc., as the company was then called, was led by executives from both AOL, SBI and Time Warner. Gerald Levin, who had served as CEO of Time Warner, was CEO of the new company. Steve Case served as Chairman, J. Michael Kelly (from AOL) was the Chief Financial Officer, Robert W. Pittman (from AOL) and Dick Parsons (from Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $226 billion to about $20 billion.[4]Similarly, its customer base has decreased to 10.1 million subscribers as of November 2007[5], just narrowly ahead of Comcast and AT&T Yahoo.
AOL is a company in transition, made evident by discussions of buy-outs and joint ventures during a period of dramatic decline in AOL's subscriber base.[3][neutrality disputed] News reports in late 2005 identified companies such as Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google as candidates for turning AOL into a joint venture;[6] those plans were apparently abandoned when it was revealed on December 20, 2005 that Google would purchase a 5% share of AOL for $1 billion.
AOL was rated both one of the best and worst Internet suppliers in the UK, according to a poll by BBC Watchdog.[7] On March 31, 1997, the short lived eWorld was purchased by AOL, forcing the 115,000 users to subscribe to AOL. The ISP side of AOL UK was bought by The Carphone Warehouse in October 2006 to take advantage of their 100,000 LLUs (local loop unbundling), which made The Carphone Warehouse the biggest LLU provider in the UK.[8]
History
AOL release timeline
1989
AOL for Macintosh gains popularity as a Mac BBS
February 1991
AOL for DOS launched
January 1993
AOL 1.0 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched, AOL 2.0 for Macintosh launched
June 1994
AOL 1.5 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched
September 1994
AOL 2.0 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched
June 1995
AOL 2.5 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched
June 1995
AOL 3.0 (Win16) for Windows 3.x/Windows 95/Windows NT launched
June 1996
AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 launched
July 1998 / June 1999
AOL 4.0 (Casablanca) and Refresh 2 launched
September 1999
AOL 5.0 (Kilimanjaro) launched
June 2000
AOL 5.0 for 9x/NT/2K (Niagara) launched
October and December 2000
AOL 6.0 (K2 - Karakorum) and Refresh launched
September 2001
AOL 6.0.2 for XP launched
October and December 2001, May and July 2002
AOL 7.0 (Taz) and Refresh 1, Refresh 2, and Refresh 2 Plus launched
October 2002
AOL 8.0 (Spacely) launched
April 2003
AOL 8.0 Plus (Elroy) launched
August and September 2003
AOL 9.0 Optimized (Bunker Hill / Blue Hawaii) and Refresh launched
May 2004
AOL 9.0 Optimized SE/LE (Thailand / Tahiti) launched
November 2004, July 2005
AOL 9.0 Security Edition SE/LE (Strauss) and Refresh launched
August 2005 to March 2006
AOL Suite Beta launched (cancelled)
September 2006, March 2007
AOL OpenRide (Streamliner) launched
November 2006, April 2007
AOL 9.0 VR and Refresh (Raga) launched (AOL 9.0 for Microsoft Windows Vista but also works with Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP)
September 2007
AOL Desktop for Mac Beta launched
October 31, 2007
AOL 9.1 (Tarana) launched
December 2007
AOL Desktop launched aka AOL 10.0
AOL began life as a short-lived venture called Control Video Corporation (or CVC), founded by William von Meister. Its sole product was an online service called Gameline for the Atari 2600 video game console after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Brothers. (Klein, 2003) Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. Gameline permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of approximately $1 per hour.
In 1983, the company nearly went bankrupt, and an investor in Control Video, Frank Caufield, had a friend of his, Jim Kimsey, brought in as a manufacturing consultant. That same year, Steve Case joined the company as a full-time marketing employee upon the joint recommendations of von Meister and Kimsey. Kimsey went on to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly renamed Quantum Computer Services in 1985, after von Meister was quietly dropped from the company.
Case himself rose quickly through the ranks; Kimsey promoted him to vice-president of marketing not long after becoming CEO, and later promoted him further to executive vice-president in 1987. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to ascend to the rank of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991.
Kimsey changed the company's strategy, and in 1985 launched a sort of mega-BBS for Commodore 64 and 128 computers, originally called Quantum Link ("Q-Link" for short). The Quantum Link software was licensed from PlayNet, Inc. In May 1988, Quantum and Apple launched AppleLink Personal Edition for Apple II and Macintosh computers. After the two companies parted ways in October 1989, Quantum changed the service's name to America Online.[9][10] In August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation.
From the beginning, AOL included online games in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in the original PlayNet software system. In the early years of AOL the company introduced many additional innovative online interactive titles and games, including:
Graphical chat environments Habitat (1986-1988) and Club Caribe (1988) from LucasArts.
The first online interactive fiction series QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed (1988).
Quantum Space, the first fully automated Play by email game (1989-1991).
The original Dungeons & Dragons title Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios (1991-1997), the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text (1991).
The first chat room-based text role-playing game Black Bayou (1996-2004), a horror role-playing game from Hecklers Online and ANTAGONIST, Inc..
In February 1991 AOL for DOS was launched using a GeoWorks interface followed a year later by AOL for Windows. In October 1991, Quantum changed its name to America Online. These changes coincided with growth in pay-based online services, like Prodigy, CompuServe, and GEnie. AOL discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in the fall of 1994.
Growth
Case positioned AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in particular contrast to CompuServe, which had long served the technical community. The PlayNet system that AOL licensed was the first online service to require use of proprietary software, rather than a standard terminal program; as a result it was able to offer a graphical user interface (GUI) instead of command lines, and was well ahead of the competition in emphasizing communication among members as a feature.
In particular was the Chat Room concept from PlayNet, as opposed to the previous paradigm of CB-style channels. Chat Rooms allowed a large group of people with similar interests to convene and hold conversations in real time, including:
Private rooms - created by any user. Hold up to 23 people.
Conference rooms - created with permission of AOL. Hold up to 48 people and often moderated.
Auditoriums - created with permission of AOL. Consisted of a stage and an unlimited number of rows. What happened on the stage was viewable by everybody in the auditorium but what happened within individual rows, of up to 27 people, was viewable only by the people within those rows.
In March 1994, AOL added access to USENET to the features it offered.
AOL quickly surpassed GEnie, and by the mid-1990s, it passed Prodigy (which for several years allowed AOL advertising) and CompuServe.
Originally, AOL charged its users an hourly fee, but in 1996 this changed and a flat rate of $19.99 a month was charged. Within three years, AOL's userbase grew to 10 million people. During this time, AOL connections would be flooded with users trying to get on, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals.
AOL was quickly running out of room in 1996 for its network at the Vienna, VA campus and moved to Dulles, VA a short distance away. The move to Dulles took place in mid-1996 and provided room for future growth.
AOL was relatively late in providing access to the open Internet. Originally, only some Internet features were accessible through a proprietary interface but eventually it became possible to run other Internet software while logged in through AOL.
Change in focus
U.S. AOL Subscribers Q201-Q407
Since its merger with Time Warner, the value of AOL has dropped from its $240 billion high. It has seen similar losses among its subscription rate. It has since attempted to reposition itself as a content provider similar to companies such as Yahoo! as opposed to an Internet service provider which delivered content only to subscribers in what was termed a "walled garden". In 2005, AOL broadcast the Live 8 concert live over the Internet, and thousands of users downloaded clips of the concert over the following months.
In 2004 along with the launch of AOL 9.0 Optimized, AOL also made available the option of personalized greetings which would enable the user to hear his or her name while accessing basic functions and mail alerts, or while logging in or out.
AOL eventually announced plans to offer subscribers classic television programs for free with commercials inserted via its new IN2TV service. At the time of launch, AOL made available Warner Bros. Television's vast library of programs, with Welcome Back Kotter as its marquee offering.
In 2006, AOL informed its American customers that it would be increasing the price of its dial-up access to $25.90. The increase was part of an effort to migrate the service's remaining dial-up users to broadband, as the increased price was the same price they had been charging for monthly DSL access.[11] However, AOL has started offering their services for $9.95 a month for unlimited dial-up access.[12]
On April 3, 2006, AOL announced that it was retiring the full name "America Online"; the official name of the service is now "AOL", and the full name of the TimeWarner subdivision is "AOL, LLC.[13]
On August 2, 2006, AOL announced that they would give away e-mail accounts and software previously available only to its paying customers provided the customer accesses AOL or AOL.com through a non-AOL-owned access method (otherwise known as "third party transit", "bring your own access", or "BYOA"). The move was designed to reduce costs associated with the "Walled Garden" business model by reducing usage of AOL-owned access points and shifting members with high-speed internet access from client-based usage to the more lucrative advertising provider, AOL.com. The change from paid to free was also designed to slow the rate of members canceling their accounts and defecting to Microsoft Hotmail, Yahoo!, or other free e-mail providers. According to AOL CEO Randy Falco, as of December 2007, the conversion rate of accounts from paid access to free access is over 80%[14].
In December 2006, in order to cut operating costs, AOL decided to cease using US-based call centers to provide customer service. They drastically downsized Stateside corporate operations as well. Two weeks before Christmas, thousands of workers were put on notice that their positions were being eliminated altogether, or being replaced with outsourced employees. On January 28, 2007, the last domestic AOL owned and operated call center (based in Oklahoma City) closed its doors, and, during October 2007, the last call center in Canada was also shut down. All customer service calls are now handled by outsourced representatives in Ogden, Utah, India, the Philippines, and Mexico.
Moving of headquarters
On September 17, 2007, AOL announced that it was moving its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York[15] and combining its various advertising units into a new subsidiary called Platform A. This action follows several advertising acquisitions, most notably advertising.com, and highlights the company's new focus on advertising-driven business models. AOL created animated cartoons in 2008 to explain behavioral targeting to its users, showing how a user's past visits to other Web sites may determine the content of advertising they see in the future.[16] AOL management stressed that "significant operations" will remain in Dulles, which includes the company's access services and modem banks.
By the end of September 2007 as part of preparation for the New York move, AOL completed the closure of its former primary Network Operations Center, Reston Technology Center, which it sold to Sprint Nextel in early 2007. This sale enabled AOL to consolidate its Northern Virginia operations from three sites (Dulles, Manassas, Reston) to two (Dulles and Manassas; personnel primarily went to Dulles, while machines moved to Manassas). AOL took advantage of the move to both reduce its overall hardware inventory and to determine a "right size" for its Network Operations Center staff after consolidating the three sites into two.
As part of the impending move to New York and the restructuring of responsibilities at the Dulles headquarters complex after the Reston move, AOL CEO Randy Falco announced on October 15, 2007 plans to lay off 2000 employees worldwide by the end of 2007, beginning "immediately". That evening, over 750 employees at Dulles alone received notices to attend early morning meetings the next day[17]; those employees were laid off on October 16, 2007, though the employees would remain on the payroll until December 14, 2007 in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Other employees whose groups were due for phase-out as part of the restructuring were informed on October 16, 2007 that they would be kept on until December 14, 2007 to complete any outstanding tasks, after which they would be laid off. The reduction in force was so large that virtually every conference room within the Dulles complex was reserved for the day as a "Special Purpose Room", where various aspects of the layoff process were conducted for outgoing employees; remaining employees at Dulles were quick to dub the mass layoff "Bloody Tuesday" in online blogs and news reports[18]. An unspecified number of staff at the former Compuserve facility in Columbus, OH were also released, as well as the entire Tucson Quality Analysis shop, a number of AOL employees working at the former Netscape facility in Mountain View, CA, the development team in France, and practically the entire Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada member services call center site. The end result was a near 40% layoff across the board at AOL, including a substantial number of Systems Operations personnel, a significant change from previous layoffs where SysOps employees routinely suffered only minor personnel reductions. [19]. An additional round of layoffs, mostly confined to analysis groups and the staff at AOL Voice Services in Halifax, Nova Scotia, occurred on December 11 and December 12, 2007[20].
TMZ.com
In 2005, AOL (along with Telepictures Productions), launched TMZ.com, one of the leading celebrity news and gossip sources on the web. TMZ.com has become known for its quickness to break celebrity news, often accompanied by exclusive videos and photos.[21]
Splitting AOL into Access and Advertising
On February 6, 2008, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes announced that Time Warner would split AOL's internet access and adversting businesses into two, with the possibility of later selling the internet access division.[22]
Controversies
AOL has been involved in many controversies.
Community leaders
Prior to mid 2005, AOL used volunteers called Community Leaders, or CLs, to monitor chatrooms, message boards, and libraries. Some community leaders were recruited for content design and maintenance using a proprietary language and interface called RAINMAN, although most content maintenance was performed by partner and internal employees.
In 1999, a class action lawsuit was filed against AOL citing violations of U.S. labor laws in its usage of CLs. The Department of Labor investigated but came to no conclusions, closing their investigation in 2001. In light of these events, AOL began drastically reducing the responsibilities and privileges of its volunteers in 2000. The program was eventually ended on June 8, 2005. Current Community Leaders at the time were offered 12 months of credit on their accounts.
Billing disputes
AOL has faced a number of lawsuits over claims that it has been slow to stop billing people after their accounts have been canceled, either by the company or the user. In addition, AOL changed its method of calculating used minutes in response to a class action lawsuit. Previously, AOL would add fifteen seconds to the time a user was connected to the service and round up to the next whole minute (thus, a person who used the service for 11 minutes and 46 seconds would be charged for 13 minutes). AOL claimed this was to account for sign on/sign off time, but because this practice was not made known to its customers, the plaintiffs won (some also pointed out that signing on and off did not always take 15 seconds, especially when connecting via another ISP). AOL disclosed its connection time calculation methods to all of its customers and credited them with extra free hours. In addition, the AOL software would notify the user of exactly how long they were connected and how many minutes they were being charged.
AOL was sued by the Ohio Attorney General in October of 2003 for improper billing practices. The case was settled on June 8, 2005. AOL agreed to resolve any consumer complaints filed with the Ohio AG's office. In December of 2006, AOL agreed to provide restitution to Florida consumers to settle the case filed against them by Office of the Florida Attorney General.[23] Their billing practices violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.[24]
Account cancellation
In response to approximately 300 consumer complaints, then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office began an inquiry of AOL’s customer service policies. The investigation revealed that the company had an elaborate scheme for rewarding employees who purported to retain or "save" subscribers who had called to cancel their Internet service. In many instances, such retention was done against subscribers’ wishes, or without their consent. Under the scheme, consumer service personnel received bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars if they could successfully dissuade or "save" half of the people who called to cancel service. For several years, AOL had instituted minimum retention or "save" percentages, which consumer representatives were expected to meet. These bonuses, and the minimum "save" rates accompanying them, had the effect of employees not honoring cancellations, or otherwise making cancellation unduly difficult for consumers.
Many customers complained that AOL personnel ignored their demands to cancel service and stop billing. On August 24, 2005, America Online agreed to pay $1.25 million to the state of New York and reformed its customer service procedures. Under the agreement, AOL will no longer require its customer service representatives to meet a minimum quota for customer retention in order to receive a bonus.[25]
On June 13, 2006, a man named Vincent Ferrari documented his account cancellation phone call in a blog post, stating he had switched to broadband years earlier. In the recorded phone call, the AOL representative refused to cancel the account unless the 30-year-old Ferrari explained why AOL hours were still being recorded on it. Ferrari insisted that AOL software was not even installed on the computer. When Ferrari demanded that the account be canceled regardless, the AOL representative asked to speak with Ferrari's father, for whom the account had been set up. The conversation was aired on CNBC. When CNBC reporters tried to have an account on AOL cancelled, they were hung up on immediately and it ultimately took more than 45 minutes to cancel the account. AOL eventually fired the representative who had spoken to Ferrari and issued an apology.[26]
On July 19, 2006, AOL's entire retention manual was released on the Internet. [1] (7MB PDF).
On August 3, 2006, Time Warner announced that the company would be dissolving AOL's retention centers due to its profits hinging on $1 billion in cost cuts. The company estimates that it will lose more than six million subscribers over the next year. [2]
Currently, Free Account members who try to cancel their accounts, via AOL Keyword "cancel", are only redirected to a website allowing them to choose from three different paid membership plans, making it difficult to cancel the account. Also, despite cancellation before a free trial ended, customer's AOL e-mail accounts would be suspended stating that you owed them for that month.[citation needed]
Software
In 2000, AOL was served with an $8 billion lawsuit alleging that its (now outdated) AOL 5.0 software caused significant difficulties for users attempting to use third-party Internet service providers. The lawsuit sought damages of up to $1000 for each user that had downloaded the software cited at the time of the lawsuit. AOL later agreed to a settlement of $15 million, without admission of wrongdoing. Now, the AOL software has a feature called AOL Dialer, or AOL Connect on Mac OS X. This feature allows users to connect to the ISP without running the full interface. This allows users to use only the applications they wish to use, especially if they do not favor the AOL Browser.
Usenet newsgroups
When AOL gave clients access to Usenet in 1993, they hid at least one newsgroup in standard list view: alt.aol-sucks. AOL did list the newsgroup in the alternative description view, but changed the description to "Flames and complaints about America Online". With AOL clients swarming Usenet newsgroups, the old, existing user base started to develop a strong distaste for both AOL and its clients, referring to the new state of affairs as Eternal September.
Later, AOL discontinued providing access to Usenet on June 25, 2005 [27]. No official details were provided as to the cause of decommissioning Usenet access, except providing users the suggestion to access Usenet services from a third-party, Google Groups. Currently, AOL provides community-based Message Boards in lieu of Usenet.
Terms of Service (TOS)
AOL has a detailed set of guidelines and expectations for users on their service, known as the Terms of Service (TOS). It is separated into three different sections: Member Agreement, Community Guidelines and Privacy Policy.[28] In the United Kingdom, TOS is known as Conditions of Service (COS).[29] All three agreements are presented to users at time of registration and digital acceptance is achieved when they access the AOL service.
There have been many complaints over rules that govern an AOL user's conduct. Some users disagree with the TOS, citing the guidelines are too strict to follow coupled with the fact the TOS may change without users being made aware. A considerable cause for this was likely due to alleged censorship of user-generated content during the earlier years of growth for AOL.[30][31][32][33]
Certified e-mail
In early 2005, AOL stated its intention to implement certified e-mail, which will allow companies to send email to users with whom they have pre-existing business relationships, with a visual indication that the email is from a trusted source and without the risk that the email messages might be blocked or stripped by spam filters.
This decision has drawn fire from MoveOn, which characterizes the program as an "e-mail tax", and the EFF, which characterizes it as a shakedown of non profits [34]. A website called Dearaol.com was launched, with an online petition and a blog that garnered hundreds of signatures from people and organizations expressing their opposition to AOL's use of goodmail.
Esther Dyson defended the move in a New York Times editorial saying "I hope Goodmail succeeds, and that it has lots of competition. I also think it and its competitors will eventually transform into services that more directly serve the interests of mail recipients. Instead of the fees going to Goodmail and EON, they will also be shared with the individual recipients."[35].
Other members of the antispam and blogging community are broadly critical of moveon.org and the EFF's attempts to characterize this as a "shakedown".
Tim Lee of the Technology Liberation Front posted an article that questioned the EFF's adopting a confrontational posture when dealing with private companies. Lee's article cited a series of discussions on Declan McCullagh's Politechbot mailing list on this subject between the EFF's Danny O'Brien and antispammer Suresh Ramasubramanian, who has also compared the EFF's tactics in opposing Goodmail to tactics used by Republican political strategist Karl Rove. Spamassassin developer Justin Mason posted some criticism of the EFF's and Moveon's "going overboard" in their opposition to the scheme.
The dearaol.com campaign lost momentum and went defunct, with the last post to the now defunct dearaol.com blog - "AOL starts the shakedown" being made on May 9, 2006.
Search data
Main article: AOL search data scandal
On August 4, 2006, AOL released a compressed text file on one of its websites containing twenty million search keywords for over 650,000 users over a 3-month period between March 1, 2006 and May 31, intended for research purposes. AOL pulled the file from public access by August 7, but not before its wide distribution on the Internet by others. Derivative research, titled "A Picture of Search" was published by authors Pass, Chowdhury and Torgeson for The First International Conference on Scalable Information Systems.
The data is being used by Web sites such as AOLstalker for entertainment purposes, where users of AOLstalker are encouraged to judge AOL clients based on the humorousness of personal details revealed by search behavior.
As of December 11, 2007, Google and the Microsoft search engine "store personal information for 18 months" and Yahoo! and AOL "retain search requests for 13 months".[36]
Online security services
This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
It reads like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since February 2008.
It may contain proseline.
AOL provides online security services for their free and paid subscribers. AOL partnered with McAfee to provide anti-virus software for Windows users. AOL's initial package was McAfee VirusScan 8.0 and Firewall Express 5.0. Initially, it was only available to paid subscribers using AOL 8.0 and 9.0; but is now available to users of version as old as 6.0.
In late-2005, AOL released AOL Safety & Security Center, a bundle of anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewal and phishing protection software. Replaced in 2007 by McAfee VirusScan Plus, the AOL Safety and Security Center included McAfee anti-virus, spyware, spam and phishing protection, plus AOL's proprietary parental controls and a firewall. The software was offered free of charge, but only to users with an AOL e-mail address or an AOL My eAddress running Microsoft Windows XP or 2000.
On August 7, 2006 [51], AOL released AOL Active Virus Shield. This software was developed by Kaspersky Lab. Active Virus Shield software was free and did not require an AOL account, only an internet e-mail address. It ran on various Microsoft operating systems including Windows 98, 2000, ME & XP. On August 1, 2007, AOL halted new registrations for this service. This led to many users experiencing error messages and failed virus-signature updates. This likely exposed users to the risk of new virus infection. AOL was late to announce this shut-down, as it came over a week after the software stopped updating. This experiment lasted slightly less than one year.
On June 8, 2006 [52], AOL offered a new program called AOL Active Security Monitor. This is a diagnostic tool to check your security status, and recommends additional Security software from AOL or Download.com in the category you are lacking. The program rates a computer on Firewall, Virus Protection, Spyware Protection, Windows and Web Browsers, Wireless and Home Network, Peer to Peer, PC Utilities, as well as giving an overall PC Safety Score Summary. The current version (2.0.0.18) only supports Windows 2000 or XP with Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater.
On July 18, 2007 [53], AOL released McAfee VirusScan Plus - Special Edition from AOL (VSP) and it premium version named McAfee Internet Security Suite - Special Edition from AOL (MIS). It replaces both The AOL Safety and Security Center and the defunct AOL Active Virus Shield. Like the AOL Safety and Security Center, it is an all-in-one security suite available free of charge to all users with an AOL e-mail address. Free AOL users can download the VSP while paid subscriber can download MIS. VSP includes an anti-virus, an anti-spyware and a firewall. MIS contains all components of VSP plus includes tools like automatic back-up and one-click restore of computer critical files. Additionally, it supports several modern Microsoft Windows operating systems including Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. On this date, AOL pulled all further downloads of the defunct Active Virus Shield.
Free services
This article or section may contain an inappropriate mixture of prose and timeline.
Please help convert this timeline into prose or, if necessary, a list.
On Wednesday August 2, 2006 AOL announced: "We’re in the process of offering all of our content and many of our services for free -- with or without an AOL Internet connection."[54]
Among the announced plans are free email services similar to many 'free' email providers. Chatrooms are included with the free service, but users are required to verify the age of an account created under the free plan using a credit card. AOL charges $1 to the credit card provided and then immediately refunds the charge. Thus people making new accounts currently experience problems whereas those who have simply converted their pay accounts over to the free plan can chat without worry.
The current version of AOL's software as of August 2006, AOL 9.0, was once identified by Stopbadware as being "under investigation" [3], for installing additional software without disclosure, and modifying browser preferences, toolbars, and icons. However, as of the release of AOL 9.0 VR (Vista Ready) on January 26, 2007, it is no longer considered badware due to changes AOL made in the software [4].
On 16 February 2007, it was announced that AOL now supports OpenID.[citation needed]
On October 4, 2006, AOL released its new, free Internet suite, AOL OpenRide, which combines a web browser, instant messenger, email client and media player in one program window.
On March 13, 2008, AOL purchased the popular networking site bebo for $850m (£417m), The price-tag is tiny when compared with the valuations of similar websites. Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook last year for $240m.
AOL currently provides free usage of a custom domain name, which it calls an AOL My eAddress. This currently allows you to create an e-mail address like 'example@whateveryouwant.com', and allows up to 100 other addresses to be created. These e-mail accounts can be accessed in similar manner to other AOL and AIM e-mail accounts. The domain, however, is currently limited to e-mail through AOL's service, and is solely registered to AOL. This may make it unsuitable for a corporate image, and currently does not allow a website or DNS configuration. Details can be found in the AOL My eAddress Terms of Service under section 4 'Domain Name Registrations'. In late 2006, AOL began offering free and unlimited digital picture storage for anyone who has an account (even free ones) with AOL, AIM, or AOL My eAddress. Users can access their photos at [5] which can be accessed with any account type, paid or free. There is no storage limit on the number of digital photos, and original resolutions are preserved. An ActiveX control provides a drag-n-drop interface, permitting users to drop an entire folder of photos into the web page to upload them. Features include tagging and photo descriptions, similar to Flickr.com's features.
AOL Video
AOL's free video service is AOL Video. AOL Video features professional content and allows users to upload videos as well. The original user-orientated video service was called UnCut Video, but was abandoned.
AOL Local
Consolidating local local-based products, AOL Local brings together like the popular AOL CityGuide, AOL Yellow Pages and AOL Local Search to help users find local information like restaurants, local events, and directory listings.
YouTube partnership
In addition to hosting UnCut Video, AOL is rumored to be partnering up with YouTube by integrating video services [6]. Based on the leaked internal web site at AOL, some have also speculated that YouTube is countering MySpace's efforts to compete with them [7].
Xdrive
Xdrive is a service offered by AOL which allows users to back up their files over the Internet. The service provides a free 5 GB account (free online storage) to anyone who has, or is willing to sign up for a free AOL screenname.[55]
Xdrive also offers remote backup services and 50GB of storage for a $9.95 per month fee.[55]
Recently, problems have arisen with Xdrive signups. People who sign up for Xdrive using an existing AOL screenname have had their screenname disabled without explanation. Those who had been using AIM as a free service, even under screennames in existence for many years, have been unable to get the accounts reinstated or access the data associated with them. In addition, affected users with free AIM accounts cannot reach AOL for help or even for information, as their phone support explicitly excludes such users. AOL is apparently either unaware of this problem or has no intention to investigate or rectify it. In addition canceling the account seems to be very difficult even for paying customers. Online help suggests that it can be done with either support email or by phone using 1-800 number. Unfortunately due to constant technical problems the phone number and the email address are not visible for every paying account. Even with email canceling option many have stated that phone call to 1-800 number was required while others have found that changing their credit card was the only option.
Company sales
AOL (Time Warner) has sold a number of its sub-companies in Europe. AOL Europe has six million users, but its subscription base had been steadily declining. In 2005, 287,000 European AOL online users migrated to other service providers.[44] In September 2006, AOL Germany's ISP business (AOL Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG) was sold for $863m (€675m) to Telecom Italia.[45] AOL's German web portal (AOL Deutschland), however, is now operated by then newly founded AOL Deutschland Medien GmbH which still is a subsidiary of Time Warner. In October 2006, AOL UK's ISP business was sold for $688m (£370m) to Carphone Warehouse.[46] [47]
Bebo
On March 13, 2008, AOL purchased the popular networking site Bebo for $850m (£417m), The price-tag is tiny when compared with the valuations of similar websites. Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook last year for $240m.
Movie studios partnership
AOL's Beverly Hills branch office
On Friday, August 25, 2006, AOL announced that it had signed a deal with several major movie studios to open an online video store allowing users to "download to own" full length movies and television shows. The deal was signed with News Corporation's 20th Century Fox, Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group[56]
AOL LLC. (formerly America Online, Inc.) is an American global Internet services and media company operated by Time Warner and headquartered in New York City, New York. It has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world, or set up international versions of its services. [2]
AOL is perhaps best known for its online software suite, also called "AOL", that allowed millions of customers around the world to access the world's largest "walled garden" online community and eventually reach out to the internet as a whole. At one time AOL's membership was over 30 million members worldwide[3], most of whom accessed the AOL service through the AOL software suite.
Contents
1 Description
2 History
2.1 Growth
2.2 Change in focus
2.3 Moving of headquarters
2.4 TMZ.com
2.5 Splitting AOL into Access and Advertising
3 Controversies
3.1 Community leaders
3.2 Billing disputes
3.3 Account cancellation
3.4 Software
3.5 Usenet newsgroups
3.6 Terms of Service (TOS)
3.7 Certified e-mail
3.8 Search data
4 Company purchases
5 Company sales
6 Notable people associated with AOL
7 Online security services
8 Free services
8.1 AOL Video
8.2 AOL Local
8.3 YouTube partnership
8.4 Xdrive
8.5 Bebo
9 Movie studios partnership
10 See also
11 External links
12 References
Description
With regional branches around the world, the former American "goliath among Internet service providers"[3] once had more than 30 million subscribers[3] on several continents. In January 2000, AOL and Time Warner announced plans to merge. The terms of the deal negotiated called for AOL shareholders to own 55% of the new, combined company. The deal closed on January 11, 2001 after receiving regulatory approval from the FTC, the FCC and the European Union.
America Online, Inc., as the company was then called, was led by executives from both AOL, SBI and Time Warner. Gerald Levin, who had served as CEO of Time Warner, was CEO of the new company. Steve Case served as Chairman, J. Michael Kelly (from AOL) was the Chief Financial Officer, Robert W. Pittman (from AOL) and Dick Parsons (from Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $226 billion to about $20 billion.[4]Similarly, its customer base has decreased to 10.1 million subscribers as of November 2007[5], just narrowly ahead of Comcast and AT&T Yahoo.
AOL is a company in transition, made evident by discussions of buy-outs and joint ventures during a period of dramatic decline in AOL's subscriber base.[3][neutrality disputed] News reports in late 2005 identified companies such as Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google as candidates for turning AOL into a joint venture;[6] those plans were apparently abandoned when it was revealed on December 20, 2005 that Google would purchase a 5% share of AOL for $1 billion.
AOL was rated both one of the best and worst Internet suppliers in the UK, according to a poll by BBC Watchdog.[7] On March 31, 1997, the short lived eWorld was purchased by AOL, forcing the 115,000 users to subscribe to AOL. The ISP side of AOL UK was bought by The Carphone Warehouse in October 2006 to take advantage of their 100,000 LLUs (local loop unbundling), which made The Carphone Warehouse the biggest LLU provider in the UK.[8]
History
AOL release timeline
1989
AOL for Macintosh gains popularity as a Mac BBS
February 1991
AOL for DOS launched
January 1993
AOL 1.0 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched, AOL 2.0 for Macintosh launched
June 1994
AOL 1.5 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched
September 1994
AOL 2.0 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched
June 1995
AOL 2.5 for Microsoft Windows 3.x launched
June 1995
AOL 3.0 (Win16) for Windows 3.x/Windows 95/Windows NT launched
June 1996
AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 launched
July 1998 / June 1999
AOL 4.0 (Casablanca) and Refresh 2 launched
September 1999
AOL 5.0 (Kilimanjaro) launched
June 2000
AOL 5.0 for 9x/NT/2K (Niagara) launched
October and December 2000
AOL 6.0 (K2 - Karakorum) and Refresh launched
September 2001
AOL 6.0.2 for XP launched
October and December 2001, May and July 2002
AOL 7.0 (Taz) and Refresh 1, Refresh 2, and Refresh 2 Plus launched
October 2002
AOL 8.0 (Spacely) launched
April 2003
AOL 8.0 Plus (Elroy) launched
August and September 2003
AOL 9.0 Optimized (Bunker Hill / Blue Hawaii) and Refresh launched
May 2004
AOL 9.0 Optimized SE/LE (Thailand / Tahiti) launched
November 2004, July 2005
AOL 9.0 Security Edition SE/LE (Strauss) and Refresh launched
August 2005 to March 2006
AOL Suite Beta launched (cancelled)
September 2006, March 2007
AOL OpenRide (Streamliner) launched
November 2006, April 2007
AOL 9.0 VR and Refresh (Raga) launched (AOL 9.0 for Microsoft Windows Vista but also works with Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP)
September 2007
AOL Desktop for Mac Beta launched
October 31, 2007
AOL 9.1 (Tarana) launched
December 2007
AOL Desktop launched aka AOL 10.0
AOL began life as a short-lived venture called Control Video Corporation (or CVC), founded by William von Meister. Its sole product was an online service called Gameline for the Atari 2600 video game console after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Brothers. (Klein, 2003) Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. Gameline permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of approximately $1 per hour.
In 1983, the company nearly went bankrupt, and an investor in Control Video, Frank Caufield, had a friend of his, Jim Kimsey, brought in as a manufacturing consultant. That same year, Steve Case joined the company as a full-time marketing employee upon the joint recommendations of von Meister and Kimsey. Kimsey went on to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly renamed Quantum Computer Services in 1985, after von Meister was quietly dropped from the company.
Case himself rose quickly through the ranks; Kimsey promoted him to vice-president of marketing not long after becoming CEO, and later promoted him further to executive vice-president in 1987. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to ascend to the rank of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991.
Kimsey changed the company's strategy, and in 1985 launched a sort of mega-BBS for Commodore 64 and 128 computers, originally called Quantum Link ("Q-Link" for short). The Quantum Link software was licensed from PlayNet, Inc. In May 1988, Quantum and Apple launched AppleLink Personal Edition for Apple II and Macintosh computers. After the two companies parted ways in October 1989, Quantum changed the service's name to America Online.[9][10] In August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation.
From the beginning, AOL included online games in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in the original PlayNet software system. In the early years of AOL the company introduced many additional innovative online interactive titles and games, including:
Graphical chat environments Habitat (1986-1988) and Club Caribe (1988) from LucasArts.
The first online interactive fiction series QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed (1988).
Quantum Space, the first fully automated Play by email game (1989-1991).
The original Dungeons & Dragons title Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios (1991-1997), the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text (1991).
The first chat room-based text role-playing game Black Bayou (1996-2004), a horror role-playing game from Hecklers Online and ANTAGONIST, Inc..
In February 1991 AOL for DOS was launched using a GeoWorks interface followed a year later by AOL for Windows. In October 1991, Quantum changed its name to America Online. These changes coincided with growth in pay-based online services, like Prodigy, CompuServe, and GEnie. AOL discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in the fall of 1994.
Growth
Case positioned AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in particular contrast to CompuServe, which had long served the technical community. The PlayNet system that AOL licensed was the first online service to require use of proprietary software, rather than a standard terminal program; as a result it was able to offer a graphical user interface (GUI) instead of command lines, and was well ahead of the competition in emphasizing communication among members as a feature.
In particular was the Chat Room concept from PlayNet, as opposed to the previous paradigm of CB-style channels. Chat Rooms allowed a large group of people with similar interests to convene and hold conversations in real time, including:
Private rooms - created by any user. Hold up to 23 people.
Conference rooms - created with permission of AOL. Hold up to 48 people and often moderated.
Auditoriums - created with permission of AOL. Consisted of a stage and an unlimited number of rows. What happened on the stage was viewable by everybody in the auditorium but what happened within individual rows, of up to 27 people, was viewable only by the people within those rows.
In March 1994, AOL added access to USENET to the features it offered.
AOL quickly surpassed GEnie, and by the mid-1990s, it passed Prodigy (which for several years allowed AOL advertising) and CompuServe.
Originally, AOL charged its users an hourly fee, but in 1996 this changed and a flat rate of $19.99 a month was charged. Within three years, AOL's userbase grew to 10 million people. During this time, AOL connections would be flooded with users trying to get on, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals.
AOL was quickly running out of room in 1996 for its network at the Vienna, VA campus and moved to Dulles, VA a short distance away. The move to Dulles took place in mid-1996 and provided room for future growth.
AOL was relatively late in providing access to the open Internet. Originally, only some Internet features were accessible through a proprietary interface but eventually it became possible to run other Internet software while logged in through AOL.
Change in focus
U.S. AOL Subscribers Q201-Q407
Since its merger with Time Warner, the value of AOL has dropped from its $240 billion high. It has seen similar losses among its subscription rate. It has since attempted to reposition itself as a content provider similar to companies such as Yahoo! as opposed to an Internet service provider which delivered content only to subscribers in what was termed a "walled garden". In 2005, AOL broadcast the Live 8 concert live over the Internet, and thousands of users downloaded clips of the concert over the following months.
In 2004 along with the launch of AOL 9.0 Optimized, AOL also made available the option of personalized greetings which would enable the user to hear his or her name while accessing basic functions and mail alerts, or while logging in or out.
AOL eventually announced plans to offer subscribers classic television programs for free with commercials inserted via its new IN2TV service. At the time of launch, AOL made available Warner Bros. Television's vast library of programs, with Welcome Back Kotter as its marquee offering.
In 2006, AOL informed its American customers that it would be increasing the price of its dial-up access to $25.90. The increase was part of an effort to migrate the service's remaining dial-up users to broadband, as the increased price was the same price they had been charging for monthly DSL access.[11] However, AOL has started offering their services for $9.95 a month for unlimited dial-up access.[12]
On April 3, 2006, AOL announced that it was retiring the full name "America Online"; the official name of the service is now "AOL", and the full name of the TimeWarner subdivision is "AOL, LLC.[13]
On August 2, 2006, AOL announced that they would give away e-mail accounts and software previously available only to its paying customers provided the customer accesses AOL or AOL.com through a non-AOL-owned access method (otherwise known as "third party transit", "bring your own access", or "BYOA"). The move was designed to reduce costs associated with the "Walled Garden" business model by reducing usage of AOL-owned access points and shifting members with high-speed internet access from client-based usage to the more lucrative advertising provider, AOL.com. The change from paid to free was also designed to slow the rate of members canceling their accounts and defecting to Microsoft Hotmail, Yahoo!, or other free e-mail providers. According to AOL CEO Randy Falco, as of December 2007, the conversion rate of accounts from paid access to free access is over 80%[14].
In December 2006, in order to cut operating costs, AOL decided to cease using US-based call centers to provide customer service. They drastically downsized Stateside corporate operations as well. Two weeks before Christmas, thousands of workers were put on notice that their positions were being eliminated altogether, or being replaced with outsourced employees. On January 28, 2007, the last domestic AOL owned and operated call center (based in Oklahoma City) closed its doors, and, during October 2007, the last call center in Canada was also shut down. All customer service calls are now handled by outsourced representatives in Ogden, Utah, India, the Philippines, and Mexico.
Moving of headquarters
On September 17, 2007, AOL announced that it was moving its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York[15] and combining its various advertising units into a new subsidiary called Platform A. This action follows several advertising acquisitions, most notably advertising.com, and highlights the company's new focus on advertising-driven business models. AOL created animated cartoons in 2008 to explain behavioral targeting to its users, showing how a user's past visits to other Web sites may determine the content of advertising they see in the future.[16] AOL management stressed that "significant operations" will remain in Dulles, which includes the company's access services and modem banks.
By the end of September 2007 as part of preparation for the New York move, AOL completed the closure of its former primary Network Operations Center, Reston Technology Center, which it sold to Sprint Nextel in early 2007. This sale enabled AOL to consolidate its Northern Virginia operations from three sites (Dulles, Manassas, Reston) to two (Dulles and Manassas; personnel primarily went to Dulles, while machines moved to Manassas). AOL took advantage of the move to both reduce its overall hardware inventory and to determine a "right size" for its Network Operations Center staff after consolidating the three sites into two.
As part of the impending move to New York and the restructuring of responsibilities at the Dulles headquarters complex after the Reston move, AOL CEO Randy Falco announced on October 15, 2007 plans to lay off 2000 employees worldwide by the end of 2007, beginning "immediately". That evening, over 750 employees at Dulles alone received notices to attend early morning meetings the next day[17]; those employees were laid off on October 16, 2007, though the employees would remain on the payroll until December 14, 2007 in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Other employees whose groups were due for phase-out as part of the restructuring were informed on October 16, 2007 that they would be kept on until December 14, 2007 to complete any outstanding tasks, after which they would be laid off. The reduction in force was so large that virtually every conference room within the Dulles complex was reserved for the day as a "Special Purpose Room", where various aspects of the layoff process were conducted for outgoing employees; remaining employees at Dulles were quick to dub the mass layoff "Bloody Tuesday" in online blogs and news reports[18]. An unspecified number of staff at the former Compuserve facility in Columbus, OH were also released, as well as the entire Tucson Quality Analysis shop, a number of AOL employees working at the former Netscape facility in Mountain View, CA, the development team in France, and practically the entire Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada member services call center site. The end result was a near 40% layoff across the board at AOL, including a substantial number of Systems Operations personnel, a significant change from previous layoffs where SysOps employees routinely suffered only minor personnel reductions. [19]. An additional round of layoffs, mostly confined to analysis groups and the staff at AOL Voice Services in Halifax, Nova Scotia, occurred on December 11 and December 12, 2007[20].
TMZ.com
In 2005, AOL (along with Telepictures Productions), launched TMZ.com, one of the leading celebrity news and gossip sources on the web. TMZ.com has become known for its quickness to break celebrity news, often accompanied by exclusive videos and photos.[21]
Splitting AOL into Access and Advertising
On February 6, 2008, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes announced that Time Warner would split AOL's internet access and adversting businesses into two, with the possibility of later selling the internet access division.[22]
Controversies
AOL has been involved in many controversies.
Community leaders
Prior to mid 2005, AOL used volunteers called Community Leaders, or CLs, to monitor chatrooms, message boards, and libraries. Some community leaders were recruited for content design and maintenance using a proprietary language and interface called RAINMAN, although most content maintenance was performed by partner and internal employees.
In 1999, a class action lawsuit was filed against AOL citing violations of U.S. labor laws in its usage of CLs. The Department of Labor investigated but came to no conclusions, closing their investigation in 2001. In light of these events, AOL began drastically reducing the responsibilities and privileges of its volunteers in 2000. The program was eventually ended on June 8, 2005. Current Community Leaders at the time were offered 12 months of credit on their accounts.
Billing disputes
AOL has faced a number of lawsuits over claims that it has been slow to stop billing people after their accounts have been canceled, either by the company or the user. In addition, AOL changed its method of calculating used minutes in response to a class action lawsuit. Previously, AOL would add fifteen seconds to the time a user was connected to the service and round up to the next whole minute (thus, a person who used the service for 11 minutes and 46 seconds would be charged for 13 minutes). AOL claimed this was to account for sign on/sign off time, but because this practice was not made known to its customers, the plaintiffs won (some also pointed out that signing on and off did not always take 15 seconds, especially when connecting via another ISP). AOL disclosed its connection time calculation methods to all of its customers and credited them with extra free hours. In addition, the AOL software would notify the user of exactly how long they were connected and how many minutes they were being charged.
AOL was sued by the Ohio Attorney General in October of 2003 for improper billing practices. The case was settled on June 8, 2005. AOL agreed to resolve any consumer complaints filed with the Ohio AG's office. In December of 2006, AOL agreed to provide restitution to Florida consumers to settle the case filed against them by Office of the Florida Attorney General.[23] Their billing practices violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.[24]
Account cancellation
In response to approximately 300 consumer complaints, then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office began an inquiry of AOL’s customer service policies. The investigation revealed that the company had an elaborate scheme for rewarding employees who purported to retain or "save" subscribers who had called to cancel their Internet service. In many instances, such retention was done against subscribers’ wishes, or without their consent. Under the scheme, consumer service personnel received bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars if they could successfully dissuade or "save" half of the people who called to cancel service. For several years, AOL had instituted minimum retention or "save" percentages, which consumer representatives were expected to meet. These bonuses, and the minimum "save" rates accompanying them, had the effect of employees not honoring cancellations, or otherwise making cancellation unduly difficult for consumers.
Many customers complained that AOL personnel ignored their demands to cancel service and stop billing. On August 24, 2005, America Online agreed to pay $1.25 million to the state of New York and reformed its customer service procedures. Under the agreement, AOL will no longer require its customer service representatives to meet a minimum quota for customer retention in order to receive a bonus.[25]
On June 13, 2006, a man named Vincent Ferrari documented his account cancellation phone call in a blog post, stating he had switched to broadband years earlier. In the recorded phone call, the AOL representative refused to cancel the account unless the 30-year-old Ferrari explained why AOL hours were still being recorded on it. Ferrari insisted that AOL software was not even installed on the computer. When Ferrari demanded that the account be canceled regardless, the AOL representative asked to speak with Ferrari's father, for whom the account had been set up. The conversation was aired on CNBC. When CNBC reporters tried to have an account on AOL cancelled, they were hung up on immediately and it ultimately took more than 45 minutes to cancel the account. AOL eventually fired the representative who had spoken to Ferrari and issued an apology.[26]
On July 19, 2006, AOL's entire retention manual was released on the Internet. [1] (7MB PDF).
On August 3, 2006, Time Warner announced that the company would be dissolving AOL's retention centers due to its profits hinging on $1 billion in cost cuts. The company estimates that it will lose more than six million subscribers over the next year. [2]
Currently, Free Account members who try to cancel their accounts, via AOL Keyword "cancel", are only redirected to a website allowing them to choose from three different paid membership plans, making it difficult to cancel the account. Also, despite cancellation before a free trial ended, customer's AOL e-mail accounts would be suspended stating that you owed them for that month.[citation needed]
Software
In 2000, AOL was served with an $8 billion lawsuit alleging that its (now outdated) AOL 5.0 software caused significant difficulties for users attempting to use third-party Internet service providers. The lawsuit sought damages of up to $1000 for each user that had downloaded the software cited at the time of the lawsuit. AOL later agreed to a settlement of $15 million, without admission of wrongdoing. Now, the AOL software has a feature called AOL Dialer, or AOL Connect on Mac OS X. This feature allows users to connect to the ISP without running the full interface. This allows users to use only the applications they wish to use, especially if they do not favor the AOL Browser.
Usenet newsgroups
When AOL gave clients access to Usenet in 1993, they hid at least one newsgroup in standard list view: alt.aol-sucks. AOL did list the newsgroup in the alternative description view, but changed the description to "Flames and complaints about America Online". With AOL clients swarming Usenet newsgroups, the old, existing user base started to develop a strong distaste for both AOL and its clients, referring to the new state of affairs as Eternal September.
Later, AOL discontinued providing access to Usenet on June 25, 2005 [27]. No official details were provided as to the cause of decommissioning Usenet access, except providing users the suggestion to access Usenet services from a third-party, Google Groups. Currently, AOL provides community-based Message Boards in lieu of Usenet.
Terms of Service (TOS)
AOL has a detailed set of guidelines and expectations for users on their service, known as the Terms of Service (TOS). It is separated into three different sections: Member Agreement, Community Guidelines and Privacy Policy.[28] In the United Kingdom, TOS is known as Conditions of Service (COS).[29] All three agreements are presented to users at time of registration and digital acceptance is achieved when they access the AOL service.
There have been many complaints over rules that govern an AOL user's conduct. Some users disagree with the TOS, citing the guidelines are too strict to follow coupled with the fact the TOS may change without users being made aware. A considerable cause for this was likely due to alleged censorship of user-generated content during the earlier years of growth for AOL.[30][31][32][33]
Certified e-mail
In early 2005, AOL stated its intention to implement certified e-mail, which will allow companies to send email to users with whom they have pre-existing business relationships, with a visual indication that the email is from a trusted source and without the risk that the email messages might be blocked or stripped by spam filters.
This decision has drawn fire from MoveOn, which characterizes the program as an "e-mail tax", and the EFF, which characterizes it as a shakedown of non profits [34]. A website called Dearaol.com was launched, with an online petition and a blog that garnered hundreds of signatures from people and organizations expressing their opposition to AOL's use of goodmail.
Esther Dyson defended the move in a New York Times editorial saying "I hope Goodmail succeeds, and that it has lots of competition. I also think it and its competitors will eventually transform into services that more directly serve the interests of mail recipients. Instead of the fees going to Goodmail and EON, they will also be shared with the individual recipients."[35].
Other members of the antispam and blogging community are broadly critical of moveon.org and the EFF's attempts to characterize this as a "shakedown".
Tim Lee of the Technology Liberation Front posted an article that questioned the EFF's adopting a confrontational posture when dealing with private companies. Lee's article cited a series of discussions on Declan McCullagh's Politechbot mailing list on this subject between the EFF's Danny O'Brien and antispammer Suresh Ramasubramanian, who has also compared the EFF's tactics in opposing Goodmail to tactics used by Republican political strategist Karl Rove. Spamassassin developer Justin Mason posted some criticism of the EFF's and Moveon's "going overboard" in their opposition to the scheme.
The dearaol.com campaign lost momentum and went defunct, with the last post to the now defunct dearaol.com blog - "AOL starts the shakedown" being made on May 9, 2006.
Search data
Main article: AOL search data scandal
On August 4, 2006, AOL released a compressed text file on one of its websites containing twenty million search keywords for over 650,000 users over a 3-month period between March 1, 2006 and May 31, intended for research purposes. AOL pulled the file from public access by August 7, but not before its wide distribution on the Internet by others. Derivative research, titled "A Picture of Search" was published by authors Pass, Chowdhury and Torgeson for The First International Conference on Scalable Information Systems.
The data is being used by Web sites such as AOLstalker for entertainment purposes, where users of AOLstalker are encouraged to judge AOL clients based on the humorousness of personal details revealed by search behavior.
As of December 11, 2007, Google and the Microsoft search engine "store personal information for 18 months" and Yahoo! and AOL "retain search requests for 13 months".[36]
Online security services
This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
It reads like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since February 2008.
It may contain proseline.
AOL provides online security services for their free and paid subscribers. AOL partnered with McAfee to provide anti-virus software for Windows users. AOL's initial package was McAfee VirusScan 8.0 and Firewall Express 5.0. Initially, it was only available to paid subscribers using AOL 8.0 and 9.0; but is now available to users of version as old as 6.0.
In late-2005, AOL released AOL Safety & Security Center, a bundle of anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewal and phishing protection software. Replaced in 2007 by McAfee VirusScan Plus, the AOL Safety and Security Center included McAfee anti-virus, spyware, spam and phishing protection, plus AOL's proprietary parental controls and a firewall. The software was offered free of charge, but only to users with an AOL e-mail address or an AOL My eAddress running Microsoft Windows XP or 2000.
On August 7, 2006 [51], AOL released AOL Active Virus Shield. This software was developed by Kaspersky Lab. Active Virus Shield software was free and did not require an AOL account, only an internet e-mail address. It ran on various Microsoft operating systems including Windows 98, 2000, ME & XP. On August 1, 2007, AOL halted new registrations for this service. This led to many users experiencing error messages and failed virus-signature updates. This likely exposed users to the risk of new virus infection. AOL was late to announce this shut-down, as it came over a week after the software stopped updating. This experiment lasted slightly less than one year.
On June 8, 2006 [52], AOL offered a new program called AOL Active Security Monitor. This is a diagnostic tool to check your security status, and recommends additional Security software from AOL or Download.com in the category you are lacking. The program rates a computer on Firewall, Virus Protection, Spyware Protection, Windows and Web Browsers, Wireless and Home Network, Peer to Peer, PC Utilities, as well as giving an overall PC Safety Score Summary. The current version (2.0.0.18) only supports Windows 2000 or XP with Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater.
On July 18, 2007 [53], AOL released McAfee VirusScan Plus - Special Edition from AOL (VSP) and it premium version named McAfee Internet Security Suite - Special Edition from AOL (MIS). It replaces both The AOL Safety and Security Center and the defunct AOL Active Virus Shield. Like the AOL Safety and Security Center, it is an all-in-one security suite available free of charge to all users with an AOL e-mail address. Free AOL users can download the VSP while paid subscriber can download MIS. VSP includes an anti-virus, an anti-spyware and a firewall. MIS contains all components of VSP plus includes tools like automatic back-up and one-click restore of computer critical files. Additionally, it supports several modern Microsoft Windows operating systems including Windows 2000, XP, and Vista. On this date, AOL pulled all further downloads of the defunct Active Virus Shield.
Free services
This article or section may contain an inappropriate mixture of prose and timeline.
Please help convert this timeline into prose or, if necessary, a list.
On Wednesday August 2, 2006 AOL announced: "We’re in the process of offering all of our content and many of our services for free -- with or without an AOL Internet connection."[54]
Among the announced plans are free email services similar to many 'free' email providers. Chatrooms are included with the free service, but users are required to verify the age of an account created under the free plan using a credit card. AOL charges $1 to the credit card provided and then immediately refunds the charge. Thus people making new accounts currently experience problems whereas those who have simply converted their pay accounts over to the free plan can chat without worry.
The current version of AOL's software as of August 2006, AOL 9.0, was once identified by Stopbadware as being "under investigation" [3], for installing additional software without disclosure, and modifying browser preferences, toolbars, and icons. However, as of the release of AOL 9.0 VR (Vista Ready) on January 26, 2007, it is no longer considered badware due to changes AOL made in the software [4].
On 16 February 2007, it was announced that AOL now supports OpenID.[citation needed]
On October 4, 2006, AOL released its new, free Internet suite, AOL OpenRide, which combines a web browser, instant messenger, email client and media player in one program window.
On March 13, 2008, AOL purchased the popular networking site bebo for $850m (£417m), The price-tag is tiny when compared with the valuations of similar websites. Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook last year for $240m.
AOL currently provides free usage of a custom domain name, which it calls an AOL My eAddress. This currently allows you to create an e-mail address like 'example@whateveryouwant.com', and allows up to 100 other addresses to be created. These e-mail accounts can be accessed in similar manner to other AOL and AIM e-mail accounts. The domain, however, is currently limited to e-mail through AOL's service, and is solely registered to AOL. This may make it unsuitable for a corporate image, and currently does not allow a website or DNS configuration. Details can be found in the AOL My eAddress Terms of Service under section 4 'Domain Name Registrations'. In late 2006, AOL began offering free and unlimited digital picture storage for anyone who has an account (even free ones) with AOL, AIM, or AOL My eAddress. Users can access their photos at [5] which can be accessed with any account type, paid or free. There is no storage limit on the number of digital photos, and original resolutions are preserved. An ActiveX control provides a drag-n-drop interface, permitting users to drop an entire folder of photos into the web page to upload them. Features include tagging and photo descriptions, similar to Flickr.com's features.
AOL Video
AOL's free video service is AOL Video. AOL Video features professional content and allows users to upload videos as well. The original user-orientated video service was called UnCut Video, but was abandoned.
AOL Local
Consolidating local local-based products, AOL Local brings together like the popular AOL CityGuide, AOL Yellow Pages and AOL Local Search to help users find local information like restaurants, local events, and directory listings.
YouTube partnership
In addition to hosting UnCut Video, AOL is rumored to be partnering up with YouTube by integrating video services [6]. Based on the leaked internal web site at AOL, some have also speculated that YouTube is countering MySpace's efforts to compete with them [7].
Xdrive
Xdrive is a service offered by AOL which allows users to back up their files over the Internet. The service provides a free 5 GB account (free online storage) to anyone who has, or is willing to sign up for a free AOL screenname.[55]
Xdrive also offers remote backup services and 50GB of storage for a $9.95 per month fee.[55]
Recently, problems have arisen with Xdrive signups. People who sign up for Xdrive using an existing AOL screenname have had their screenname disabled without explanation. Those who had been using AIM as a free service, even under screennames in existence for many years, have been unable to get the accounts reinstated or access the data associated with them. In addition, affected users with free AIM accounts cannot reach AOL for help or even for information, as their phone support explicitly excludes such users. AOL is apparently either unaware of this problem or has no intention to investigate or rectify it. In addition canceling the account seems to be very difficult even for paying customers. Online help suggests that it can be done with either support email or by phone using 1-800 number. Unfortunately due to constant technical problems the phone number and the email address are not visible for every paying account. Even with email canceling option many have stated that phone call to 1-800 number was required while others have found that changing their credit card was the only option.
Company sales
AOL (Time Warner) has sold a number of its sub-companies in Europe. AOL Europe has six million users, but its subscription base had been steadily declining. In 2005, 287,000 European AOL online users migrated to other service providers.[44] In September 2006, AOL Germany's ISP business (AOL Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG) was sold for $863m (€675m) to Telecom Italia.[45] AOL's German web portal (AOL Deutschland), however, is now operated by then newly founded AOL Deutschland Medien GmbH which still is a subsidiary of Time Warner. In October 2006, AOL UK's ISP business was sold for $688m (£370m) to Carphone Warehouse.[46] [47]
Bebo
On March 13, 2008, AOL purchased the popular networking site Bebo for $850m (£417m), The price-tag is tiny when compared with the valuations of similar websites. Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook last year for $240m.
Movie studios partnership
AOL's Beverly Hills branch office
On Friday, August 25, 2006, AOL announced that it had signed a deal with several major movie studios to open an online video store allowing users to "download to own" full length movies and television shows. The deal was signed with News Corporation's 20th Century Fox, Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group[56]
สมัครสมาชิก:
บทความ (Atom)
