Re: AOL/Compuserve

Rohit Khare (khare@w3.org)
Sun, 14 Sep 1997 23:19:40 -0400 (EDT)

> So along with CobraBoy's prediction of Moto being out of the PPC business
> by 2K I'll make this one. AOL will, based on it's continued growth, absorb
> or merge with a Telco (MCI, GTE, USWest, AT&T etc) by 2K. The telco will
> sense the need for an expanding user base, and AOL will get the data lines
> and bandwidth/customers.
>

Um, AOL already has a decent infrastructure. ANS, and all that. Furthermore,
merging with a telco would dilute their brand-name. AT&OL? AOMCI? C'mon...

On the other hand, this just came across my transom...

TIME magazine [Sept. 22, 1997] is reporting that
<BR>AMERICA ONLINE is set to announce a new alliance with its biggest
<BR>competitor, MICROSOFT.&nbsp; New partnerships include licensing the
online
<BR>magazine SLATE, produced by MICROSOFT.&nbsp;&nbsp; About AOL's new
relationship,
<BR>AOL's Case tells TIME, it's one based on "ambivalence and, to some
<BR>extend, fear."