Because Your Mom Misses AOL
At some point, you finally convinced your mom and dad to ditch their AOL dial-up connection and their Windows 98 PC and join the rest of the world. Now they have a modern PC and a fast broadband connection. Yet somehow, they still miss their AOL browser and the whole “you’ve got mail” internet experience. (I know, I don’t understand it either…well, maybe it’s not for us to judge…) Now, you can give them back that old-school AOL experience they crave with this new download from AOL: AOL Desktop.
The AOL Desktop program is a free download that organizes web content on the desktop. Without even having to sign in, AOL Desktop users can browse the web, watch videos, check the latest news, and more, right from this desktop software program. Like old AOL software, AIM and email are built-in. However, now, you have the ability to check multiple email accounts, like Gmail, Verizon, and others, right in the same window. So yep, you can move your parents’ new broadband ISP email address right back into AOL software. (They never figured out Thunderbird anyway). The Desktop software also has Quick Access Panels, which are buttons that take you to quick links for things like movies, sports, music, and more. Be sure to show mom & dad how to use the new tabbed browsing, but you may or may not want to delve into the Custom Toolbar training session - they’re probably overwhelmed at this point, so just let them use the default settings.
The technorati may scoff at this anti-web 2.0 application, but there are a lot of people who would welcome back AOL with open arms (if only they knew how to download and install programs.) So now, it’s decision time: we can either insist our parents remain progressive yet confused, or we can set them back up with the internet experience they grew comfortable with over the years. What would you do?
(Note: I know some mom’s and dad’s are perfectly capable online, but “mom” & “dad” in this blog post refer to the older generation that didn’t grow up on computers and still has a hard time, to this day, acclimating to their use.)
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Hey Now Sarah,
This is funny.
Thx,
Catto
My Dad and Sister had both been AOL users from way back. When they switched to DSL, their continued to be an array of AOL applications running on their shared home computer.
I have nothing against the AOL interface. It seems like a great idea, except that those famous, easy-to-use AOL apps have a reputation for crippling computers. Results include incredibly slow boot times, slow internet response and slow application launches.
On at least three occasions, I’ve been called to help friends or family with PCs that seem one step away from being thrown in the garbage. Uninstalling AOL and a defrag later and everything seems to be running fine.
Yes, internet explorer and firefox are too “complicated” for some users, my Dad included. As a result, they use the computer and internet rarely. The AOL interface is more accessible but the AOL entourage of applications can decrease PC performance to the point of frustrated non-usability, negating the advantage.
You know I agree with you my dad who uses AOL always used the browser until I told him he could just use Firefox and now he is used to Firefox.
@damien: good point, but I think this desktop program might be lighter-weight than the original AOL software