Netscape Isn't the Only Thing AOL Should Drop
I browsed over the many articles in the past few days about the final demise of Netscape, by AOL’s ending support of it. While it is interesting news, most netizens have long since moved on, and are in the land of Firefox or other new browsers. Heck, I wonder how many people really remember Netscape much.
After reading the news, I sat back for a few moments and pondered what the internet was like back in the early 90′s, the days when dialup access was king, and we all raced to have the latest modem. Then my thoughts switched to AOL, once a large and thriving ISP, and what went wrong.
Well, the truth is, I do not fully know what went wrong. What I do know is that the AOL “Desktop” software has always been, and still is, terrible. I will never forget the many days and nights working on other people’s machines, due to problems with the AOL Desktop install. To make matters worse, the software issues did not get better over time, they got even worse.
It was not too long ago that a family member with an AOL email address made the mistake of reinstalling this software. It installed so many stupid applications and services that an otherwise fast laptop turned to mud. (All those dreaded memories flooded back). I cleaned the system up, and they have been fine since.
All that to say:
AOL, please get rid of the dreaded desktop software. You never have been, or are currently, good at creating a desktop portal application. It often does more harm than good for unknowing users. On top of that, nobody cares anymore. The internet has long since outgrown your desktop portal. Please make this software the next thing you drop support for.
