美國線上公司

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美國線上公司官方網站網址：http://www.aol.com

　　美國線上（AOL）是美國時代華納的子公司，著名的網際網路服務提供商。

　　美國線上服務(AOL)公司：總部設在弗吉尼亞州維也納的一種線上信息服務公司，可提供電子郵件、新聞組、教育和娛樂服務，並支持對網際網路訪問。美國線上服務(AOL)公司是美國最大網際網路服務提供商之一。2000年美國線上服務(AOL)公司與媒體巨人華納時代公司合併，2001年1月11日該交易被聯邦貿易委員會證實。合併旨在擴展品牌內容服務以及通信服務的大眾市場，合併後的公司形成了一個通信和媒體大公司，這個大公司擁有網際網路最大用戶群體，並有娛樂、出版和有線電視領域的廣泛基礎。

　　美國線上是全球首屈一指的ISP。而其旗下的另一公司CompuServe定位於增值業務。此外，AOL公司提供以下免費服務：數字城市（當地城市指南）、地圖查找、Moviefone（影片相關信息以及和訂票服務）、ICQ、AOL Instant Messager、Spinner（流式音樂）和Winamp下載。

　　2009年3月11日，AOL方面通過其在中國公關公司首度向搜狐IT宣佈其退出中國大陸，終止北京公司的運營。^[1]

　　美國線上（AOL）的創始人：史蒂夫·凱斯（Steve Case）

　　史蒂夫·凱斯創立了“美國線上”，全美最大的網路服務商，是目前世界上兩家真正通過網路贏利的公司之一，第一個被列入《財富》500強的互聯網服務公司，個人年收入1.17億美元，居《福布斯》雜誌全美1999年50家高薪大公司主管的亞軍。

　　AOL began as a short-lived venture called Quantum Computer Services (or QCS), founded by William von Meister. Its sole product was an online service called Gameline for the Atari 2600 video game console after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Brothers. (Klein, 2003) Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. Gameline permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of approximately $1 per hour.

　　In 1983, the company nearly went bankrupt, and an investor in Control Video, Frank Caufield, had a friend of his, Jim Kimsey, brought in as a manufacturing consultant. That same year, Steve Case joined the company as a full-time marketing employee upon the joint recommendations of von Meister and Kimsey. Kimsey went on to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly renamed Quantum Computer Services in 1985, after von Meister was quietly dropped from the company.

　　Case himself rose quickly through the ranks; Kimsey promoted him to vice-president of marketing not long after becoming CEO, and later promoted him further to executive vice-president in 1987. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to ascend to the rank of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991.

　　Kimsey changed the company's strategy, and in 1985 launched a sort of mega-BBS for Commodore 64 and 128 computers, originally called Quantum Link ("Q-Link" for short). The Quantum Link software was licensed from PlayNet, Inc. In May 1988, Quantum and Apple launched AppleLink Personal Edition for Apple II and Macintosh computers. After the two companies parted ways in October 1989, Quantum changed the service's name to America Online.[6][7] In August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation.

　　From the beginning, AOL included online games in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in the original PlayNet software system. In the early years of AOL the company introduced many additional innovative online interactive titles and games, including:

• Graphical chat environments Habitat (1986-1988) and Club Caribe (1988) from LucasArts.
• The first online interactive fiction series QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed (1988).
• Quantum Space, the first fully automated Play by email game (1989-1991).
• The original Dungeons & Dragons title Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios (1991-1997), the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text (1991).
• The first chat room-based text role-playing game Black Bayou (1996-2004), a horror role-playing game from Hecklers Online and ANTAGONIST, Inc..

　　In February 1991 AOL for DOS was launched using a GeoWorks interface followed a year later by AOL for Windows. In October 1991, Quantum changed its name to America Online. These changes coincided with growth in pay-based BBS services, like Prodigy, CompuServe, and GEnie. AOL discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in the fall of 1994.

　　Massive growth

　　Case positioned AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in particular contrast to CompuServe, which had long served the technical community. The PlayNet system that AOL licensed was the first online service to require use of proprietary software, rather than a standard terminal program; as a result it was able to offer a graphical user interface (GUI) instead of command lines, and was well ahead of the competition in emphasizing communication among members as a feature.

　　In particular was the Chat Room concept from PlayNet, as opposed to the previous paradigm of CB-style channels. Chat Rooms allowed a large group of people with similar interests to convene and hold conversations in real time, including:

• Private rooms - created by any user. Hold up to 27 people.
• Conference rooms - created with permission of AOL. Hold up to 48 people and often moderated.
• Auditoriums - created with permission of AOL. Consisted of a stage and an unlimited number of rows. What happened on the stage was viewable by everybody in the auditorium but what happened within individual rows, of up to 27 people, was viewable only by the people within those rows.

　　There were also text games played in the chat rooms, known as AOL chatroom games.

　　In March 1994, AOL added access to USENET to the features it offered.

　　AOL quickly surpassed GEnie, and by the mid-1990s, it passed Prodigy (which for several years allowed AOL advertising) and CompuServe.

　　Originally, AOL charged its users an hourly fee, but in 1996 this changed and a flat rate of $19.99 a month was charged. Within three years, AOL's userbase grew to 10 million people. During this time, AOL connections would be flooded with users trying to get on, and many canceled their accounts due to constant busy signals. Also, games which used to be paid for with the hourly fee migrated in droves to the Internet.

　　AOL was quickly running out of room in 1996 for its network at the Vienna, VA campus and moved to Dulles, VA a short distance away. The move to the Dulles took place in 1997 and provided room for future growth.

　　AOL was relatively late in providing access to the open Internet. Originally, only some Internet features were accessible through a proprietary interface but eventually it became possible to run other Internet software while logged in through AOL. They were the first online service to seamlessly integrate a web browser into content.

　　AOL introduced the concept of Buddy Lists, leveraging their one-on-one instant messaging technology.

　　Change in focus

　　Since its merger with Time Warner, the value of AOL has dropped from its $200 billion high. It has seen similar losses among its subscription rate. It has since attempted to reposition itself as a content provider similar to companies such as Yahoo! as opposed to an Internet service provider which delivered content only to subscribers in what was termed a "walled garden". In 2005, AOL broadcasted the Live 8 concert live over the Internet, and thousands of users downloaded clips of the concert over the following months.

　　In 2004 along with the launch of AOL 4.0 optimized, AOL also made available the option of personalized greetings. Which would enable the user to hear his or her name while accessing basic functions, mail alerts and logging in or out. America Online users can access the greetings recorded by the female voice of Patricia Walden or the male voice of Chris Kepics (http://chriskepics.googlepages.com) by installing version 9.0 optimized which can be done online by going to AOL Keyword: Upgrade. Once the user is running the current program, go to Keyword: Event Sounds, then select "Change" and "Add Your Name" to access the voices.

　　AOL eventually announced plans to offer subscribers classic television programs for free with commercials inserted via its new IN2TV service. At the time of launch, AOL made available Warner Bros. Television's vast library of programs, with Welcome Back Kotter as its marquee offering. Other shows include Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The F.B.I., F Troop, and Growing Pains.

　　In 2006, AOL informed its American customers that it would be increasing the price of its dial-up access to $25.90. The increase was part of an effort to migrate the service's remaining dial-up users to broadband, as the increased price was the same price they had been charging for monthly DSL access.[8] However, AOL has started offering their services for $9.95 a month for unlimited dial-up access.[9]

　　On April 3, 2006, AOL announced that the full name "America Online" will be retired, and that the official name of the service is now "AOL".[10]

　　On August 2, 2006, AOL announced that they will give away e-mail accounts and software previously available only to its paying customers in a strategy shift likely to accelerate the decline in its core Internet access business. The decision removes the few remaining reasons for many AOL subscribers to keep paying when they already have high-speed Internet access through a cable or phone company. AOL hopes that by making services free, it can draw Internet users to its ad-supported Web sites and keep them from defecting to Microsoft and Yahoo!, which have offered free e-mail for years.