iPhone is a regular member of our chat room, and sent me a surprising email the other day. He has apparently found something from AOL that he is happy with. Take a look:

I wanted to share something GOOD AOL made. No I’m not kidding, I actually like the app really well. It’s called AOL Desktop. It’s available for the Mac and PC both. Yes, it may be AOL, but it actually has been very reliable. When you first open AOL Desktop, it will give you a toolbar at the top which you can customize. It kinda reminds me of Webkit, except it has a better User Interface, and crashes a few times. But remember, we’re talking about AOL. The best thing is the browser. They fully changed the browser… and at some points it was actually faster than Safari. I went to Chris’ site from my AOL browser and my Safari browser at the same time (have them both as my home page). AOL desktop browser beat Safari by 7.62 seconds. I also tried websites like Plurk, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Friendfeed. AOL Desktop beat Safari by about 1-2 seconds every time when loading pages fully. That may not seem like that big of a difference, but it really is when you add up all the pages you load in a normal day.

Also, you can have AIM, E-mail, and your browser all in one app. Of course… Apple mail is MUCH better than AOL’s e-mail app. I wouldn’t recommend using the e-mail app. But, I definitely recommend you try out the browser.

Thanks, iPhone for passing this along. I’m sure several people will be checking this out in the near future. What other apps do all of you recommend that we may be skeptical about the quality of? Let’s hear what you’re using.

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Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

I remember when every day the mail would come, and there was at least one AOL disc included. It was everywhere, and you couldn’t seem to get away from it.

Over the next couple of months, AOL will be laying off more than 2,000 workers. This doesn’t really come as a suprise to many people. AOL is not the powerhouse it once was.

The software package is so bloated, and can seriously bog down your system. It is also Adware driven. Back in the day, AOL was one of the few options for getting online and having Email. However, it’s a simple thing to get online these days, and there’s honestly no reason to have to install this huge package that can slow you down, give you ads, and all the “features” you don’t even want or need.

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• Is AOL a Bad Thing?
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• Have You Tried the New AOL Desktop?
• Pay as you Go Internet… Good or Bad Idea?

http://live.pirillo.com/ – In the beginning Ameria Online – AOL – was a necessary part of the Internet. They were, in a large way, responsible for the commercial success of the Internet: thanks to their aggressive marketing tactics (such as giving away free floppy disks and CDs) they were able to open up the world of the Internet to people who would otherwise not get online.

In a time before the Internet was so ubiquitous you generally had to jump through a lot of hoops in order to get online. AOL – along with a handful of other ISPs – offered an easy to way get online, by automatically installing all of the software, rivers, and low-level components that computers did not originally come with.

Years ago – before broadband was an option – we would recommend AOL as your Internet Service Provider. They offered an easy-to-use all-in-one package that got you online easily. Nowadays, however, AOL has simply become a way to view advertisements on your desktop.

Our recommendation is to avoid AOL. You can use Internet Explorer just as easily as you can AOL.

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• Is AOL Still Worth Downloading, Installing, and Using?
• Have You Tried the New AOL Desktop?
• Pay as you Go Internet… Good or Bad Idea?
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• Comcast Internet Problem: Part II
• Comcast Business Internet: Bad Business Decision?

Going out on a limb here, but… “When the Internet first became available outside of educational institutions, workaday users needed some kind of friendly interface to get online. Trumpet Winsock was an absolute nightmare to explain (and configuring Kermit was far more unfriendly). However, AOL needs to wake up to the fact that users no longer need advertising-laden software to get themselves online. Offering me “usefulâ€Â? software that’s just as riddled with advertisements is not a step in the right direction…”

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• Is AOL Still Worth Downloading, Installing, and Using?

Jason Calacanis spent billions of dollars on socially engineering a social bookmarking experiment, only to discover that his paid socialites were bookmarking a single page on Gizmodo.com over and over again.

The failure of this project really took its toll on Calacanis. Jason started showing up for work in full ringleader regalia, and AOL executives started to become a bit concerned. When paying for links didn’t work, he started paying people NOT to link – and that effort, too, failed miserably.

It was then that Calacanis turned his attention to the anti-social demographic. Enlisting help from the Asociation of Shy Superbloggers – or ASS for short – Weblogs Inc. was able to launch The Stalker Blog, The Serial Killer Blog, and Whoretexx (a blog for psychotic hookers).

Source: The Jason Calacanis Weblog
Domain: Calacantis.com

[Use the Coupon Code "bLaugh" to save 10% on your next GoDaddy purchase]

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• Are YOU a Social Media Geek?

I needed to get on AIM, and apparently forgot to copy over my Trillian folder. I went to the Web in search for AIM Express, only to discover that it was currently down for the count. I really wasn’t feeling like installing AOL’s crapware, but (if I had to do anything) I thought I’d give the latest Triton build another shot. Before the installer process could begin, it told me that my copy of Windows wasn’t new enough – even though I’m running Windows Vista Beta 2. A quick-click into compatibility mode sent that dialog running, but just when I thought I was good to go – nothing happened.

I still needed to get to someone on AIM, so I went back to the AOL instant messaging portal in search of another IM binary to download. That’s when I noticed something new (?) in the sidebar: AIM Pro. It appears to be a way to help AOL users interface with the WebEx platform. However, in doing so, AOL has created an amazing product. I’m talking about AIM Pro, mind you – not any other AOL IM product. It’s not perfect, but AIM Pro is far less annoying than any other AOL IM product I’ve seen to date. I could easily recommend using AIM Pro over either Windows Live Messenger or Yahoo Messenger (though I’m still a Trillian fan). AOL needs to push AIM Pro over their other instant messengers. Jason Calacanis, are you listening?

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