4 ms·
But those tools were hard for laypeople to use in 1995. Sure, Windows now had a web browser and email program but you still needed an ISP and the email client w
by ericras 11y ago
But those tools were hard for laypeople to use in 1995. Sure, Windows now had a web browser and email program but you still needed an ISP and the email client was confusing to setup. Hell, their own Microsoft Network service was hard to figure out; one phone number to connect to the proprietary service and a different one for the Web (which never connected for me).
It was much simpler for users to put in the AOL disk and stay inside their walled garden - both conceptually and technically easier for laypeople.
- brc 11y agoYour points may be true, but the point is they went from potentially letting AOL own all their customers to regaining the initiative. Prior to the strategy change, it would have been simple for AOL to maintain a steel grip on those customers and harvest all the value from them. Just because Microsoft went on to dominate the desktop market and win the browser war doesn't mean it was inevitable.