13 Jan
2005
13 Jan
'05
8:40 a.m.
but which ones were
the most viable, and which ones contributed most to the explosive growth
of the internet?
That would be the flood of AOL floppies, and the run of $300 PCs after
rebate because you signed up for AOL for 3 years at $20/mn.
Everyone who was "hip" was getting online. AOL made it hip, and everyone
who thought they could suck a dime out of the public joined in. The
internet was just convenient because college students were talking about
it, and it was free content that these fly by night ISPs could offer,
while charging the same rate AOL/CompuServe/Prodigy et all were charging
for their "custom" content.
At least that is the way I saw it go in the mid 90's.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
13 Jan
13 Jan
1:27 p.m.
That would be the flood of AOL floppies, and the run
of $300 PCs after
rebate because you signed up for AOL for 3 years at $20/mn.
Everyone who was "hip" was getting online. AOL made it hip, and everyone
who thought they could suck a dime out of the public joined in. The
internet was just convenient because college students were talking about
it, and it was free content that these fly by night ISPs could offer,
while charging the same rate AOL/CompuServe/Prodigy et all were charging
for their "custom" content.
At least that is the way I saw it go in the mid 90's.
You saw very correctly. Saw it with my own eyes...
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org (ex william(a)ans.net and integrat(a)usr.com)
^
Jack R is probably still mad.
18 Jan
18 Jan
8:23 p.m.
On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 17:40:38 -0500, chris <cb(a)mythtech.net> wrote:
That would be the flood of AOL floppies, and the run
of $300 PCs after
rebate because you signed up for AOL for 3 years at $20/mn.
My part of _that_ saga was working for the group at AOL/CompuServe
that implemented the back-end of the rebate scheme... our code
monitored databases of rebate customers to ensure they stuck around on
the service for the entire 3 years, and billed them if they tried to
leave prematurely. Eventually, as people started to get near the end
of their commitments, our group was responsible for implementing
marketing schemes to entice rebate customers to stay on voluntarily...
I don't recall any specifics, but my memory is that many of these
enticements worked, but I suspect it was more related to customer
inertia than perceived value.
Some of my friends still work there, but much of that group has been
winnowed away after waves and waves of layoffs.
-ethan
7278
days inactive
7284
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aw288＠osfn.org -
cb＠mythtech.net -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com