Acquired Episode 44: AOL - Time Warner (with the Internet History Podcast)
01:47:21
AOL: America's Internet Training Wheels
- AOL, headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, was derisively called "training wheels for the internet".
- It became America's internet gateway, teaching many their first online experiences like chat rooms and email.
AOL's Pioneering Role in Internet Paradigms
- AOL pioneered internet paradigms like instant messaging and walled gardens, becoming a precursor to modern platforms like Facebook.
- Despite its later downfall, AOL shaped early online experiences and monetization models.
AOL's Revenue Model and .Com Boom
- AOL's initial revenue relied on subscriptions and content licensing, but its explosive growth was fueled by advertising.
- They became the primary online destination, attracting.com companies eager to reach a large audience.
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Introduction
00:00 • 2min
The Worst Acquisition of All Time?
02:20 • 3min
Teagas Investing Insights
05:05 • 2min
What Is AOL Time Warner?
06:53 • 2min
AOL - One Man's Pivoting Is Another Man
08:50 • 1min
Aol
10:19 • 2min
AOL Instant Messenger
11:56 • 2min
Why AOL and AOL Dropped the Ball, Right?
13:29 • 2min
AOL Is the Internet, Right?
15:16 • 2min
AOL Is a Scrapper
16:54 • 2min
Wall Street Was in Love With AOL
18:33 • 2min
The Three-Legged Stool
20:26 • 1min
The Parallels to Facebook
21:56 • 2min
AOL in 98.99
23:30 • 2min
Dot Com Deals - These Are Fat Times for AOL
25:15 • 2min
What's the Signal to the VCs to Stop Investing?
26:58 • 2min
I'm Going to Sit This One Out, Right?
28:39 • 1min
Dr. Coop's Not Going to Raise Another Round
30:09 • 2min
Steve Case and the Internet Bubble
31:54 • 2min
Time Warner Cable and Jerry Levin
33:34 • 2min
Time Warner's CEO, Jerry Levin, Believed in Technology
35:16 • 2min
Jerry Levin Thinks This Is Great
37:00 • 2min
The AOL Deal With Time Warner
38:41 • 1min
eBay Was the Much Better Business for the Internet Than Time Warner
40:10 • 2min
AOL Time Warner Is About to Be Broken Up
41:51 • 2min
AOL and Time Warner - The Next Big Thing?
43:38 • 2min
Time Warner Cable Says, Get Bent, Right?
45:12 • 2min
Time Warner and AOL - The Snake Eating Its Tail
46:42 • 2min
Dot Com - Is AOL Worth Less Than AOL?
48:28 • 2min
AOL Time Warner Officially Drops AOL
50:01 • 2min
Is AOL Still in the Company?
51:41 • 2min
What's the Story Behind the AOL Acquisition of ICQ?
53:16 • 2min
What Are the Things That Came Through With the iPhone?
54:47 • 2min
The Internet Was Your Rolodex
56:18 • 2min
What's the History of AOL?
57:59 • 2min
What Kind of Acquisition Is AOL Taking Over Time Warner?
59:55 • 2min
Aol
01:01:37 • 2min
What Is Time Warner Thinking It's Doing?
01:03:10 • 2min
Time Warner and Jerry Levin Buying the Kool-Aid
01:05:03 • 2min
Is It's Not People, You Know?
01:06:35 • 2min
This Is a Bubble. This Is a Bubble.
01:08:33 • 1min
Is Time Warner a Good Idea?
01:09:52 • 2min
AOL Surviving the Dot Com Bus
01:11:28 • 3min
The Power of the Internet
01:14:33 • 2min
Is Facebook a Bundle of Content?
01:16:36 • 3min
Is the Open Web a Dead Paradigm?
01:19:08 • 2min
The News Feed vs. The Facebook Slams
01:20:50 • 2min
Is Content King?
01:22:21 • 2min
Is AOL Time Warner Really a Success?
01:23:53 • 2min
Is AOL a Success?
01:25:46 • 2min
Is AOL the Worst Merger of All Time?
01:27:31 • 2min
Is It the Shareholders or the Business and Is There a Difference?
01:29:10 • 2min
The Scale Doesn't Have Any Meaning Unless There's a Top and a Bottom
01:31:24 • 2min
How Many Mixed Metaphors Can I Do?
01:33:00 • 3min
Give and Take by Adam Grant
01:35:34 • 2min
The Dark Side of the Counterculture in San Francisco
01:37:51 • 2min
What the Door Mouse Said by Claude Shannon
01:39:22 • 2min
Claude Shannon - What You Shouldn't Know
01:40:58 • 2min
The Peanut Butter and Jelly of Tech History Podcast
01:42:40 • 3min
On this extra-long episode of Acquired, Brian McCullough from the Internet History Podcast returns to discuss perhaps the most (in)famous merger of all time: AOL - Time Warner. Who doesn’t remember the soothing sounds of 56k modems and the timeless phrase, “You’ve Got Mail”? Join us all as we unpack how one of the biggest ISP’s of the 90’s tried to take over the world… and fell far short.
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Topics Covered Include:
- AOL’s status in the 90’s / early 00’s
- Explaining just what it is that AOL did at the height of their popularity
- How AOL pioneered a number of internet paradigms
- AOL’s persistent money troubles and bailouts from other companies
- Steve Case foreseeing the coming era of broadband, inspiring AOL to pursue working with a cable company
- Ebay vs. Time Warner in a down-to-the-wire war for a merger with AOL
- Why the money dried up for AOL after their merger with Time Warner
- AOL and its value in the post-Time-Warner era
- Speculating about what would have happened had AOL and others stayed independent businesses
- And much discussion on how to grade this one…
The Carve Out:
- Ben: Give and Take by Adam Grant
- David: Season of the Witch by David Talbot
- Brian: A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age by Rob Goodman