AOL 8.0 makes Internet easy -- for a price
Dec.
22, 2002
By JIM BROOKS
While visiting my local post office lobby recently to mail my
family's Christmas cards, I noticed a large box of promotional America
Online CD-ROMs on a counter.
I wondered if someone left them by mistake until I saw a sticker
on the front of each CD-ROM folder promoting the U.S. Postal Service's
online services. "Your Online Post Office!" the sticker
proclaims, along with the Postal Service's Web address, www.usps.com.
To its credit, the Post Office's Web site offers lots of information
on products as well as stamps. I'm not sure how many people will
buy regular postage stamps from the site; buyers must also chip
in extra cash to pay postage to ship the stamps (a book fo 20 stamps
costs you an extra $1). Of course, I only live a mile away from
a post office, so getting there to buy stamps is not a problem.
But the fact that AOL CDs are even available at your local Post
Office made me reconsider trying the online service one more time.
I haven't used America Online for several years. With a big red
box full of AOL 8.0 promo CDs, I decided it was time to re-visit
the service.
AOL has used free access as a promotional tools for years, starting
first with the 3.5-inch diskettes. Currently AOL offers a 45-day
trial subscription which includes 1025 hours of free access (according
to my math, that amounts to staying logged in constantly for nearly
45 days).
AOL makes signing up for the service (which I'm sure many new computer
users may wish to do this holiday season) very simple and straightforward.
Trial subscribers must still sign up with some method of payment
-- credit card or electronic check -- but users are only charged
if they do not cancel the service during the trial period.
For a number of years (particularly in the late 1990s), America
Online was considered a low-tech way of using the Internet. An e-mail
addresss ending in ``aol.com'' was at one time considered a sign
of someone who knew little about the Internet. Of course, such snobbish
views have fallen by the wayside -- after all, 35 million people
now call AOL their home. Many of my friends have used it and enjoyed
it for many years.
When I first used AOL it was a proprietary service. At that time
it didn't even offer a connection to the Internet. What attracted
subscribers was its content; it is that exclusive content that helps
it keep its users.
With AOL 8.0, America Online does a good job of making its content
easy to use. AOL seamlessly integrates its content with information
from the World Wide Web. One reason for AOL's popularity is just
that -- it makes surfing the Web and access information simple.
Users can select one of six welcome screens tailored to match his
or her interests. A menu (referred to as ``Channels'' in AOL-speak)
includes links to major content areas. Each individual content area
has its own home page, with additional links to more content. It's
all carefully arranged and as user-friendly as anyone could hope
for.
It is much easier in the current AOL to change user preferences
and to set parental controls. Parental controls are critical if
you have kids or young adults using a computer at home to go online
-- AOL has good tools, but you must use them to your advantage as
a parent.
A button for AOL's parental controls are on the top menu bar, as
opposed to being buried layers deep in a variety of menus as in
the past.
Each AOL master account can add up to six additional users. The
user's preferences can be set to control what parts of the service
can be accessed. For example, parents may want to keep their kids
away from the chat and Instant Message areas of AOL. AOL offers
special areas aimed at kids ages 12 and under (including an adult-monitored
kids-only chat area), which is a great feature.
AOL also offers an online timer that parents can use to control
when your child can go online and how long he or she can stay online.
Parents can also block file downloads, newsgroups, and even AOL's
extra-cost Premium Services. Again, the settings are well-explained
and easy to use.
If you decide to subscribe to AOL, here are a couple of tips:
PREFERENCES. One of the first things users should do is
enter the Preferences menu and click on the "Marketing"
link under the "Account Controls" category. You can do
yourself a favor by opting out of AOL and third-party offers by
telephone, e-mail and regular mail. Users can also opt out of AOLs
own pop-up ads. The default setting on all of these controls is
"Yes."
The Preferences menus also offer controls for e-mail, address book,
fonts, chat and more.
STAY LOCAL. AOL may be an attractive product, but at $23.90,
it isn't cheap. Add to that the fact that AOL may not have a local
number in your area, which means you may wind up needing to pay
long distance charges to use the service.
If you already use a local Internet provider, you can get the benefit
of AOL content and services by subscribing to AOL's "Bring
Your Own Access" service. For a discounted rate of $14.95,
you get all of AOL's content while keeping your current connection.
You simply access your Internet provider, then start the AOL software
and you're in business.
Of course, you're paying a price above and beyond simple Internet
access, but you retain one big benefit -- a local and dependable
Internet access provider. National Internet providers can't match
the customer support that smaller "Mom & Pop" providers
can give. A toll-free number and a recording can't match someone
down the street when you're having trouble with your Internet connection.
I'll admit that I was surprised at how user-friendly AOL 8 is.
I'm not sure if I'll keep the service beyond the trial period, though
I can guarantee that my wife and kids will have a chance to give
it a spin. Watch this column in coming weeks for their "user's
perspective" of AOL 8.
EBAY TOO. Auction giant eBay.com has filed a lawsuit against
a Schenectady, N.Y., man who operated his own auction site under
the name eBaytoo.com.
``If it's not here ... it's not out there!'' was the slogan displayed
on eBaytoo.com's Web site.
In its lawsuit, eBay alleges that the site owner, John Wederman,
has violated eBay's copyright by operating a similar business using
a similar name. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Albany,
N.Y. The company is seeking damages and legal fees.
While the eBaytoo.com Web site was offline as this was written,
the site still cached and stored on the servers of America Online.
Wederman's eBaytoo.com promotes that unlike eBay, there are no
restrictions on items auctioned. "You sell what you want, when
you want," the site said. The category listing included those
found on eBay -- with the exception of the "Ku Klux Klan items,"
"Nazi items," and "Panther items," which were
exclusive to eBaytoo.
The lawsuit claims that Wederman registered in April 2000 as an
eBay user, but was later suspended for failure to pay his fees.
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