Coincidence?

By Joe on February 18, 2008

I checked my mail and what do I see?

PC Magazine with one of the features, “Say Goodbye to AOL.” Before I dropped this ‘zine in the trash, I decided to give it a skim to see what they are buzzing about. Needless to say my subscription is free, so frankly I don’t pay much attention to the content aimed at novice users.

What did the article say?
It regurgitated the same spoon-fed anti-AOL propaganda, citing the Vincent Ferrari incident and continued to add fuel to the fire for readers to have their friends and family leave AOL. The focus of the article was aimed at soliciting readers to use a $25 software to export their account contents.

The article failed to point out the fact that people can cancel (convert their account to free) without any effort at all. If folks don’t pay for AOL, is there any harm in using it? Yeah, I know the ads and the quirky software … but is it that bad, requiring you defend your ideological position and spend an additional $25?

I’d show you how to export your favorites and address book for free, but then I’m just as guilty as PCM.

Joe

Gerald,

Seriously dude, just can it. Your exaggerated wild fantasies of corporate corruption at the hands of your own AOL account are amusing at best. I've redacted your comments due to the minimal value they provide. Please find someone else's blog to shit on.

Kthxbye,
Joe

Gerald

Redacted due to off-topic nature.

Joe

Marah,

I actually find what you author to be useful and sometimes interesting. I am more concerned with respected media who tends to be less innovative and just regurgitates the same "Friends don't let friends use AOL..." kind of material. I expect them to go above that bar and actually interview -- say, a spokesperson, on various concerns raised by amateur blogger on controversial topics and provide value for prospective and loyal readers.

While it may appear that I defend the company, I really don't -- I defend my actions during my time there. I know there are many challenges that AOL will be faced with in its future path. In fact, there's several things I totally disagree with the company on, but it's not necessarily for me to repeat it here.

While this wasn't necessarily a piss in the wind for or against AOL, it as intended for PC Magazine and their lack of innovative, investigative and powerful journalism that readers probably enjoy.

Thanks for dropping by!

~Joe

Marah Marie

"Spoon-fed AOL propaganda?" Guess what I write? And I'm feeding it to the public with the prettiest spoon you ever did see. But you knew that already. Amazing how loyal you stay to AOL despite your layoff (what we in less polite circles might call your "canning"), but there's just no accounting for taste. Unless it's like your friend Joelogon says - that it's easier to go with what you know than what you don't - but he was talking about AOL's message boards, not AOL itself. Quite puzzling, really...no matter how much you folks at AOL get kicked around, you keep on defending them.

gerald

Redacted due to off-topic nature.

Joe

Gerald,

I no longer work for AOL anymore. That said, how can any account be wrongfully terminated? It's their service, their Terms of Service and their guidelines.

I suggest if you experience difficult reactivating your account is to write to headquarters and civilly state your request and I'm confident that the right folks will be able to review your concern and address it adequately.

Their postal address is:
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, VA 20166

Best Wishes,
Joe

patty sordiff

i love aol, i will never leave it, so im glad you put this up on here, the nerve of some people!

Coincidence?

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