[Please note: this is merely the outline of an article I hope to put into the Edited Guide. I am editing it right here, right now, starting from a skeleton and wroking* outwards...]

America Online, abbreviated to AOL, is one of the world's largest providers of internet services, but its story is full of contradictions. In its less than twenty year history it has grown to take over not only its competitors, but a huge media conglomerate (in the form of its merger with Time Warner), and yet it is struggling to stay profitable; it has millions of users, but just as many [enemies|despisers]; and it is a popular low-cost ISP that still sees the Internet as only part of its provision. [[reword!]]

Before the Internet, there were BBSes

In 1985, a company called Quantum Computer Services launched an online service called 'Q-Link' for users of the then-popular Commodore computers. This was not, it should be stressed, a connection to the Internet, but rather a 'BBS' ('Bulletin Board Service') - essentially a phone number that a modem-equipped computer could dial into in order to exchange messages, files and various other services with other users. Such services were not uncommon at the time, and were often run as a hobby with their existence spread by word of mouth. Quantum was hoping for more than this, and had done a deal with Commodore in a bid to capture a large number of subscribers.

For the next few years, Quantum enjoyed moderate success through partnerships with Apple (AppleLink) and Tandy (PC-Link). After severing ties with Apple in 1989, the AppleLink service became 'America Online', with 'AOL' chosen as a suitable acronym. *

[[Mention mass-marketing here? They mailed out lots of floppies, and were unusual in sticking themselves to magazines, etc.…]]

Embracing the Internet Challenge

• The WorldWideWeb, created in 1994, gave the Internet a boost that AOL couldn't ignore
• AOL bought BookLink, and opened a 'gateway' between their service and the Internet, incorporating BookLink's [Mosaic-derived] browser technology into their software to allow their users WWW access.

Since AOL had always marketed itself as a friendly and easy-to-use service for non-expert users, this link-up led to something of a culture clash. AOL users were completely ignorant of 'netiquette' and the ways of the Internet at large, and soon became caricatured as both habitual misusers of services and easy targets for exploitation. Seemingly unperturbed by this image, AOL has continued to successfully market itself as the ideal 'family' service, further irritating many with its [exaggerated friendliness].

Finding the technology unsatisfactory when compared to rivals, AOL approaches first Netscape, then Microsoft [[check!]], to provide basis for new software.

Competition and Acquisition [[or is that two sections, really?]]

As public interest in the Internet blossomed, an increasing number of companies began offering low-cost access for ordinary home users. In order to compete with these new 'ISPs'*, AOL had to repeatedly revise its pricing plans and many new users saw it simply as a convenient low-cost ISP. AOL itself, however, still saw itself as a provider of services, only some of which could be attained through the Internet at large.

Acquired:

• Compuserve - an old rival, which once [in 1991] bid to take over AOL [[verify!]]
• Mirabilis - ICQ (but hesitates to merge this with 'AIM')
• Nullsoft - WinAmp
• Netscape - including the nascent Mozilla (but is still tied to previous agreement with Microsoft to provide basis of client software)

The Merger and Beyond

• In largest merger ever, a company called 'AOL Time Warner' is born, which seems to have an unstoppable hold on every aspect of the media. Many are worried that it will be just too powerful, but as the Internet boom recedes, AOL itself finds it is making losses
• Once again attempts to prove itself "[more than just an ISP]"...