Imagine dial-up modems screeching. It is 1985. AOL Inc. is a fledgling company finding its feet. Let’s step inside the story of AOL Inc. here in New York City.
AOL Inc. started as Control Video Corporation in 1983. William von Meister founded it. His idea was to buy music on demand. Warner Bros. rejected this concept. Control Video then created GameLine for the Atari 2600.
In 1985, Jim Kimsey transformed the remnants of Control Video into Quantum Computer Services. He served as CEO. In 1991, Steve Case took over as CEO. Kimsey saw potential in Case. AOL Inc. began to take shape.
Quantum Link was launched in 1985 for Commodore computers. It was later called Q-Link. The software came from PlayNet Inc. This service used the Commodore 64’s power. It was different from other online services.
In 1988, Quantum partnered with Apple. They launched AppleLink Personal Edition. Then, in 1989, they parted ways with Apple. Quantum became America Online. Case marketed AOL Inc. to people new to computers. This distinguished it from CompuServe.
AOL Inc. included online games from the start. Many classic games were part of the original PlayNet software. Habitat, a graphical chat environment from LucasArts, was an early innovation. Quantum Space was the first fully automated play-by-mail game.
February 1991 saw the launch of AOL for DOS. A year later, AOL for Windows followed. During the early 1990s, subscriptions lasted about 25 months. They generated 350 dollars in revenue.
Advertisements beckoned modem owners. They promised free software and trial memberships. AOL Inc. discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in late 1994. In September 1993, AOL Inc. added Usenet access.
CMO Jan Brandt launched a marketing campaign. He distributed free trial disks. At one point, half the CDs made worldwide had an AOL Inc. logo. By the mid-1990s, AOL Inc. surpassed Prodigy and CompuServe.
In November 1994, AOL Inc. bought Booklink. This provided web access to users. In 1996, AOL Inc. replaced Booklink. They used a browser based on Internet Explorer.
AOL Inc. partnered with educational organizations. These included the National Education Association and the Library of Congress. AOL Inc. offered homework help and online courses.
AOL Inc. purchased WebCrawler in 1995. But it sold it to Excite the next year. In 1996, AOL Inc. shifted to a flat monthly rate. The price was 19.95 dollars.
In February 1998, AOL Inc. acquired CompuServe Interactive Services. In November 1998, AOL Inc. acquired Netscape. This was a major 4.2 billion dollar deal. In December 1999, it bought MapQuest.
In 2001, AOL Inc. merged with Time Warner. It became AOL Time Warner. AOL shareholders owned 55% of the new company. In 2006, America Online officially became AOL Inc.
AOL Instant Messenger AIM was a popular service. Millions of users communicated via AIM. Sadly, AIM shut down on December 15, 2017.
In 2015, Verizon Communications acquired AOL Inc. In 2021, Verizon sold Yahoo and AOL Inc. to Apollo Global Management. AOL Inc. then became part of the new Yahoo Inc.
Today, AOL Inc. remains a significant part of the internet landscape. From dial-up to digital media, it continues to evolve. Its headquarters remain here at 770 Broadway. The story of AOL Inc. is far from over.