05-27-2006, 10:13 AM
Article reviews the worst 25 tech products ever. At the top of the list: 1. America Online (1989-2006), 2. RealNetworks RealPlayer (1999), 3. Syncronys SoftRAM (1995), 4. Microsoft Windows Millennium (2000), 5. Sony BMG Music CDs (2005)
full article and review of the top (or is it bottom) 25 worst tech products: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0...g,1,00.asp
Quote:1. America Online (1989-2006)
How do we loathe AOL? Let us count the ways. Since America Online emerged from the belly of a BBS called Quantum "PC-Link" in 1989, users have suffered through awful software, inaccessible dial-up numbers, rapacious marketing, in-your-face advertising, questionable billing practices, inexcusably poor customer service, and enough spam to last a lifetime. And all the while, AOL remained more expensive than its major competitors. This lethal combination earned the world's biggest ISP the top spot on our list of bottom feeders.
AOL succeeded initially by targeting newbies, using brute-force marketing techniques. In the 90s you couldn't open a magazine (PC World included) or your mailbox without an AOL disk falling out of it. This carpet-bombing technique yielded big numbers: At its peak, AOL claimed 34 million subscribers worldwide, though it never revealed how many were just using up their free hours...
full article and review of the top (or is it bottom) 25 worst tech products: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0...g,1,00.asp
