Not that I rely on AOL for any serious e-mailing, personally, nor am I
out to evangelize AOL. However, I recently found myself thinking about
how much has changed since the web revolution began and we how we tend
to stick to old technological prejudices years after their defining
premises have expired. The myth of the dumb "@aol.com" user is surely
the most persistent.
AOL's current e-mail interface isn't even half bad.
In my pragmatic contemplation I've come up with 3 reasons I think an AOL address is no longer the mark of the newbie. At least necessarily:
1. These days, in general, there simply aren't web services that delineate between beginner and advanced users in the first place. All online demographics have been well represented for 10 or more years now giving much time for any notorious knowledge gap groups to dwindle away. Today, children are introduced to PCs and the web as a matter of course development. They effectively grow up with an online mentality that eliminates any given service as a widely regarded "starting point". There are few if any consumer level web services that, by their mere adoption, tidily compartmentalizes users by aptitude.
2. Actually, an AOL address may well represent sophistication. Many AOL addresses were claimed during the peak of AOL's marketing campaigns during the mid-90s. People who signed up to the within-reach AOL service that long ago have had time to evolve into full-fledge power users of today. Many have even made computers and web technologies their careers. Although it remains somewhat questionable that anyone would keep a single address that long, there are exceptions, particularly among those who have particularly novel or valuable AOL names.
3. The "link shortening" fad extends to e-mail addresses. It's plausible that those with a certain appreciation for this perspective would seek out AOL addresses because "aol.com" is compact. For instance, which of the 3 addresses is shortest: me@tampabay.rr.com, me@gmail.com, or me@aol.com? If I want to communicate more efficiently, "me@aol.com" makes great sense. And as AOL makes e-mail addresses free, why not? Don't be surprised to see a spate of e-mail providers offering value on this premise (or, AOL starting to).
