Why AOL is the Worst Product Ever

You have probably heard the expression "so bad they can't give it away." And I think it aptly applies to AOL. As a member of AOL for the past seven years, I have seen the quality of AOL go from bad to worse. For most of those seven years, I paid $23.90 a month for their ridiculously poor internet connection and awful customer service. Finally, after losing enough paying customers to their competitors, AOL decided to give their service away for free. And sure enough, you get what you pay for. Here is why AOL is the worst product ever.

AOL purportedly stands for American Online, or as The Barefoot explained to me, "Almost Online." I continued to use AOL long after I realized how horrible their service was because I wanted to maintain my email address and because, as someone who is not entirely internet savvy, I didn't want to learn the basics of a new browser. Okay, and I also liked the voiced that welcomed me and told me I had mail.

However, slowly but surely AOL turned into the worst product ever. Informative and well-written articles on AOL's Welcome Page were replaced by imbecilic gossip blogs like TMZ and NFL Fanhouse. Four to five sentences of poorly-written trash, followed by the ramblings of illiterate fanboys and catty starlet-haters. There is absolutely nothing useful on the AOL Welcome Page anymore. Except maybe for a few news videos. But I cannot view those without watching a minute-long Metamucil commercial featuring three guys called The Regulars who like to simultaneously use the john.

When AOL began blocking Associated Content with a 404 Error (I don't know what it means), I turned to AC's forums for help. A fellow Content Producer (thanks, Michy!) turned me on to Firefox, and I have been online without interruption ever since.

AOL is the worst product ever. It was not worth the email address or even that friendly voice. Which, come to think of it, said "Goodbye" more often than anything else.