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Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

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Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#81

Post by steego »

67726e wrote: post #50
earlyriser wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: why do you say luckily?

No the commenter you're asking, but I've never had a constructive conversation with "those types" - the kind who go out of their way to talk about getting laid off from a tech company. Of all the ones I've spoken with, it followed the pattern of "BigCo outsourced jobs to those darn Foreigners, and I got laid off, and it will happen to you too!". In particular I worked with a former DBA for IBM at a grocery store in h…

> What I never heard was any constructive career advice, or any details other than the outsourcing and cheap foreigners.

I don't think the purpose of their tirade was to provide you with career advice. It sounds like they were bitter that they invested time and energy in their career and they were resentful of managers replacing them with an option that seemed cheaper. They probably grew up in a time where you could work for a company for life. I bet IBM seemed like a great place to work when they started.

Can't you empathize with them even if you find yourself making better life choices?

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#82

Post by chii »

aylons wrote: post #80
darklajid wrote: post #58

Today I learned that WhatsApp is 5 times more valuable than AOL - and I never understood either of these companies' market.. Interesting though - that company 'felt' like a giant when I seriously got into using the web and although the article seems to imply that the operations of AOL continue (using the AOL brand?) it's fascinating to see such a company being swallowed.

Sorry, but why do you believe WhatsApp is overvalued? They have an incredible mindshare, it is the only app (besides Facebook), that I see moms and grandmas using on a daily basis. Heck, my mom talk to me mostly through it. She evens send me emoticons, pictures and voice notes!

has your mom or other people you know ever paid for whatsapp? I know i've never seen anyone pay, just anecdotally.

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#83

Post by chii »

tw04 wrote: post #72
lxchase wrote: post #63

While many are seeing this as bizarre, it is not. This is a programmatic and verticalization play. Verizon has been investing in adtech companies and provides the means of distribution. The deal allows them to now own the content as well. As someone in the advertising agency, Verizon has been one of the few telecoms that have enabled advertisers to utilize their data. This deal furthers their ability to tie mobile da…

It's not the least bit bizarre, but it is EXACTLY what people are (or should be) afraid of. The people who own the pipes should NOT own the content, or they will be incentivized to leverage their monopoly on our computer screens to provide unfair advantages to their content. The FCC should have drawn a line in the sand and been done with it before the Comcast deal was allowed to go through (but of course the head of…

or mandate that pipes should have universal access, so that it becomes like a utility (i'd compare it to electricity). If you decide to sell your own brand of toasters, you cannot be allowed to send 'cleaner/better' electricity to your own toaster than to your competition's.

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#84

Post by epmatsw »

aylons wrote: post #80
darklajid wrote: post #58

Today I learned that WhatsApp is 5 times more valuable than AOL - and I never understood either of these companies' market.. Interesting though - that company 'felt' like a giant when I seriously got into using the web and although the article seems to imply that the operations of AOL continue (using the AOL brand?) it's fascinating to see such a company being swallowed.

Sorry, but why do you believe WhatsApp is overvalued? They have an incredible mindshare, it is the only app (besides Facebook), that I see moms and grandmas using on a daily basis. Heck, my mom talk to me mostly through it. She evens send me emoticons, pictures and voice notes!

I've never seen a person in the US actually use WhatsApp to talk to another person in the US. I used to occasionally see someone use it to talk to friends who were traveling abroad, but that's mostly been replaced by iMessage or Hangouts at this point.

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#86

Post by protomyth »

ams6110 wrote: post #65
ascagnel_ wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes; Verizon has an offering designed explicitly for rural areas[1], but it's expensive. The linked article is from 2012, and prices have since declined, but the general gist of the service is the same: a big antenna you bolt to your house or a tree and will pull from an existing account-level share plan (if you have one). [1] http://www.cnet.com/news/verizons-homefusion-now-brings-4g-l...

You still have to be in a 4G coverage zone. I guess we're getting into the definition of "rural." Where I live I have no coverage from any carrier.

People will have better luck with rural telephone companies trying to stay alive then big wireless carriers. Sprint and T-Mobile absolutely suck in coverage area for rural folks.

One example, Steele ND and the surrounding area is served by a small rural telephone company that is laying a lot of fibre (I'm hoping they head North). A 200M plan (no cap) for $45 a month. This is being repeated quite a lot in rural areas with rural cooperatives.

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#87

Post by r00fus »

georgeott wrote: post #77
tootie wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AOL might be the ultimate company that missed the boat. They practically owned the internet in America in the 90s and just let the whole thing get away. They had pole position to be Google+Facebook at once.

They owned a closed "Walled Garden" version of the internet. Once the open internet took off, AOL was doomed.

They had years to invest in the open internet, buy out a successful internet venture, or adopt internet features into their offering.

They failed to do all of the above, and are now in the dustbin of history (and to me, are solely remembered for their acquisition of nullsoft who then created Gnutella - predecessor of P2P file sharing services).

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#88

Post by mkr-hn »

georgeott wrote: post #77
tootie wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AOL might be the ultimate company that missed the boat. They practically owned the internet in America in the 90s and just let the whole thing get away. They had pole position to be Google+Facebook at once.

They owned a closed "Walled Garden" version of the internet. Once the open internet took off, AOL was doomed.

Discovering that I could connect with a browser outside AOL while dialed up kicked off my interest in networking. Unfortunately for AOL, it's also when I discovered I didn't need AOL. I got a cable internet connection as soon as it was available and never looked back.

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#89

Post by mkr-hn »

ams6110 wrote: post #65
ascagnel_ wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes; Verizon has an offering designed explicitly for rural areas[1], but it's expensive. The linked article is from 2012, and prices have since declined, but the general gist of the service is the same: a big antenna you bolt to your house or a tree and will pull from an existing account-level share plan (if you have one). [1] http://www.cnet.com/news/verizons-homefusion-now-brings-4g-l...

You still have to be in a 4G coverage zone. I guess we're getting into the definition of "rural." Where I live I have no coverage from any carrier.

I usually think of where I live as rural due to the distance to a major city (20 miles to Athens, GA), but I do get occasional 4G inside the grocery store. It's more exurban than rural.

Re: Verizon to Buy AOL for $4.4B

#90

Post by temuze »

jmhuret wrote: post #51

$4.4 Billion is the equivalent of 7.3 Trillion free hours of AOL service via promotional cd-rom.

Assuming you get 1000 hours per CD, you're saying CDs cost about $1.65.

You could probably get CDs in bulk for an order of magnitude or two cheaper. Assuming the CDs are $0.01, that's 440 trillion free hours. Great deal for Verizon.

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