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AOL pretends to be the internet

thehistoryoftheweb.com

261–270 of 279 posts

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar thing happened to us. I had the www redirect but used a .wedding TLD. On the invites I even put the entire “ .wedding/“" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http:// .wedding/“ hoping it’d be clear. I’d say a majority of people didn’t recognize that it was a web address and assumed we didn’t have a website.

To be fair “.com” would probably have convinced more of them. “.wedding” is obviously some cheeky made up thing…

My earliest domain was registered in '99 and I'd still not really believe "dot wedding" - what's next, "dot muffin"?

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason why restaurants quickly returned to physical menus: most of their customers hated QR code menus and the restaurant business is extremely competitive so you have to be responsive to what customers want to stay in business. It's only in markets that lack competition that a company can do unpopular changes that reduce its costs without losing customers. For example, stadiums all went cashless "for your…

One issue with QR codes in restaurants is that they force everyone to get on their phones which is sometimes exactly what you are trying to avoid by going out in the first place

Or your phone can die...

I went to a place recently where you ordered on your phone and it kept your tab open until you closed it... I had to race against my phone dying to pay.

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair “.com” would probably have convinced more of them. “.wedding” is obviously some cheeky made up thing…

My earliest domain was registered in '99 and I'd still not really believe "dot wedding" - what's next, "dot muffin"?

There are some pretty out-there ones now. No .muffin yet, but its a lot more plausible now than it was 5 years ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_dom...

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#265
post #58

AOL had a 45 minute idle timeout, meaning you'd be logged out regardless of what was happening on your screen if you weren't moving the mouse or using the keyboard. This was a problem if you wanted to download files and have them in the morning. Making my first "idler" in Visual Basic (which sent a string of whatever song was playing in Winamp to a random AOL chatroom where I was the only person) meant my inactive ti…

AOL gave me my love of programming. I learned how to program in Visual Basic because I wanted to write my own "aol prog". I can still remember the "server" in the Warez room listed VB3.0 as the "the software that is used to make progs". Luckily there were people sharing their code so I could study and figure out how to do it myself. Me and my cousin created a yo momma joke spammer. I was a shit head back then, but it…

Aohell is what got me into Windows dev stuff back in the day. Then discovered the warez room. Downloaded a copy of VB 3.0 and bunch of other dev tools. I think Borland Delphi and also Power Builder. Best thing about AOL was that even in the mid-90s, their email system held what seemed like an unlimited amount of multi-part binary files as attachments. So when you requested a warez in the chatroom, your inbox got flooded with like 30-40 emails with rar file parts. Like pretty much everyone back in those days on dialup, I'd start the download at night , so less chance of someone picking up phone and disconnecting my session from AOL. When I was college, it got easier. Because AOL added TCP/Winsock support to their desktop client. So I could just install AOL on unsed Comp Sci lab PC and then download all the email attachments at 1-2mbps.

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#266
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The AppStore? :-) The AppStore and the PlayStore are slowly choking off the internet.

What a ridiculous claim. The explosion of apps is over, and the Internet is fine. Apple is not a gatekeeper to the Internet the way Google, Meta, and Amazon are. Lumping Apple in with them reveals ignorance of their core businesses.

The internet is not fine. If you look around 99% of websites are still pushing their apps, especially the big websites.

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#267
post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are ever in a tech support role and have to see how people use computers, it’s actually horrific.

I have an email that is firstname@lastname.tld when I tell it to people, or tech support they always first assume I’m an idiot and really meant to say firstlast@gmail.com The tld isn’t com there’s no g in the entire address, but people have a hard time understanding that such a thing is a real email address. I do happen to have that gmail address also, but my name is uncommon and not the easiest to spell, so as long…

I have the same and it's true, some people try tacking @gmail.com at the end.

Also, all internet addresses have to start with 'www', everybody knows that. Otherwise the Internet would be confused and think it was an email address.

> I’ll get the email if they send it to my vanity domain.

Nothing vain about it; it's just a domain name being used as intended.

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#268
post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a ridiculous claim. The explosion of apps is over, and the Internet is fine. Apple is not a gatekeeper to the Internet the way Google, Meta, and Amazon are. Lumping Apple in with them reveals ignorance of their core businesses.

The internet is not fine. If you look around 99% of websites are still pushing their apps, especially the big websites.

And have they taken down their sites as a result?

Yes, I find those publishers and apps annoying. But how big a deal have they become?

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

, he gasped breathlessly from atop his Peloton, sweat beading beneath his Gucci Bored Ape sweatband as the horror dawned, all too late. Because once seen, there was no unseeing. "No. No. No!" Could everything he had felt for his iPhone have been a saccharine substitute for what he'd lost along with AOL, his empire built in search of his Rosebud? It had all seemed too familiar, once he stopped to think about it... but…

That was just the perfect reply, haha. Seriously, they are definitely doing just what you've described, but even more advanced. Not that I think it's intrinsically wrong. It's much more efficient to have protocols for all the modes of interaction that are discovered, e.g. The collection of raw ideas expressible via internet web pages is like a test bed for the possibilities. They eventually graduate into ossified str…

You "forgot" to state how Apple controls the Web, or to support any of the other hysteria buried in your self-important, technically unsound rant against electronic expression... which Apple did not invent and does not govern online.

You're whining about FTP's malign effects on drawing, sculpture, and dance? Hahaha, seriously? And again, you neglect to establish that Apple is to blame.

How about the flourishing of art forms and appreciation for would-have-been-obscure artists (including sculptors and dancers) who have the means to reach millions of people through, OMG, HTTP! How about the fact that I can look up the best techniques and watch a video about how to construct my own kiln, so I can do pottery at home? Dear lord save us from what Apple hath wrought! If only my spirit could soar into the heavens without hitting my head on a server in the cloud.

Woe betide us.

Oh, and give yourself a participation trophy.

Re: AOL pretends to be the internet

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was just the perfect reply, haha. Seriously, they are definitely doing just what you've described, but even more advanced. Not that I think it's intrinsically wrong. It's much more efficient to have protocols for all the modes of interaction that are discovered, e.g. The collection of raw ideas expressible via internet web pages is like a test bed for the possibilities. They eventually graduate into ossified str…

You "forgot" to state how Apple controls the Web, or to support any of the other hysteria buried in your self-important, technically unsound rant against electronic expression... which Apple did not invent and does not govern online. You're whining about FTP's malign effects on drawing, sculpture, and dance? Hahaha, seriously? And again, you neglect to establish that Apple is to blame. How about the flourishing of ar…

You should probably look into enjoying some dance, you're wound up really tight.
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