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I setup my own geocities website in 1998, so they had to have had it then. According to the document here [1], AOL's web browser was introduced in 1995. [1] ht

I setup my own geocities website in 1998, so they had to have had it then. According to the document here [1], AOL's web browser was introduced in 1995. [1] https://www.technologizer.com/2010/05/24/aol-anniversary/2/ https://www.technologizer.com/2010/05/24/aol-anniversary/2/

nostrademons 5y ago
1998 is the later days of AOL. Its heyday was 1991-1995, when basically everybody got multiple AOL disks in the mail, you'd have TV advertisements telling you to visit a certain AOL keyword, and they were basically the only user-friendly way of getting online. (The competition like Prodigy or Compuserve had very clunky user interfaces, and GEnie and BBSes were text-only.) The writing was on the wall for AOL as soon as Netscape and Yahoo came out in 1994.
- trainsplanes 5y ago
  Feels strange to say 1991 was the heyday. I don't know of a single person with a home PC in 1991, much less internet. Mid-90s to very early 2000s was nonstop AOL commercials and CDs in the mail. Chat rooms were booming and you couldn't watch a single TV show without a "You've got mail!" reference.
  - kevinventullo 5y ago
    To bolster your point, the movie “You’ve Got Mail” released in December 1998.
  - nostrademons 5y ago
    "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." -- William Gibson. I was the last of my friends in elementary school to get a computer - my first was a Mac LC in 1991. Where I was, they were rare in 1986 but ubiquitous by about 1989. Would go over to friends' houses to play Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail, or Number Munchers. I was on the WWW by 1994. Grew up in suburban Boston, so the area was relatively affluent and educated. I suspect this is like how my 3-year-old (growing up in Silicon Valley) thinks that robots, self-driving cars, and drones are just an ordinary part of reality, while they remain science-fiction for many Americans.
Eric_WVGG 5y ago
AOL as a brand started in 1989. What do you think it was doing for six years, just running a Coming Soon page?
- patorjk 5y ago
  Companies can be around for a while before they refine their product and really take off. I disagree with the idea that AOL's heyday was the early 90's. From my own experiences growing up - and even from just looking at their subscriber growth - their heyday (to me) is the late 90's. If you have a different perspective that's fine though.
  - rezonant 5y ago
    This matches my experience as well. On an unrelated note, thanks for API Spy Pat! I used it extensively back in the day. Hope you're doing well!
    - patorjk 5y ago
      lol, you're welcome on the api spy! Always cool when someone remembers that :).

nostrademons 5y ago

1998 is the later days of AOL. Its heyday was 1991-1995, when basically everybody got multiple AOL disks in the mail, you'd have TV advertisements telling you to visit a certain AOL keyword, and they were basically the only user-friendly way of getting online. (The competition like Prodigy or Compuserve had very clunky user interfaces, and GEnie and BBSes were text-only.) The writing was on the wall for AOL as soon as Netscape and Yahoo came out in 1994.

trainsplanes 5y ago
Feels strange to say 1991 was the heyday. I don't know of a single person with a home PC in 1991, much less internet. Mid-90s to very early 2000s was nonstop AOL commercials and CDs in the mail. Chat rooms were booming and you couldn't watch a single TV show without a "You've got mail!" reference.
- kevinventullo 5y ago
  To bolster your point, the movie “You’ve Got Mail” released in December 1998.
- nostrademons 5y ago
  "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed." -- William Gibson. I was the last of my friends in elementary school to get a computer - my first was a Mac LC in 1991. Where I was, they were rare in 1986 but ubiquitous by about 1989. Would go over to friends' houses to play Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail, or Number Munchers. I was on the WWW by 1994. Grew up in suburban Boston, so the area was relatively affluent and educated. I suspect this is like how my 3-year-old (growing up in Silicon Valley) thinks that robots, self-driving cars, and drones are just an ordinary part of reality, while they remain science-fiction for many Americans.

Eric_WVGG 5y ago

AOL as a brand started in 1989. What do you think it was doing for six years, just running a Coming Soon page?

patorjk 5y ago
Companies can be around for a while before they refine their product and really take off. I disagree with the idea that AOL's heyday was the early 90's. From my own experiences growing up - and even from just looking at their subscriber growth - their heyday (to me) is the late 90's. If you have a different perspective that's fine though.
- rezonant 5y ago
  This matches my experience as well. On an unrelated note, thanks for API Spy Pat! I used it extensively back in the day. Hope you're doing well!
  - patorjk 5y ago
    lol, you're welcome on the api spy! Always cool when someone remembers that :).