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I have a small pile of AOL CDs around here. I was saving them to be dumped on the AOL front lawn, but I suspect that effort is over.

I think I also have a 3.5" with AOL 1.1 on it.
 
Forgive me if I don't share enthusiasm for AOL disks. Many people don't know about AOL's early reputation. Some of the old-timers will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Back in the day when web browsers came out and the internet was really becoming mainstream, AOL was looked on as the ISP that the computer illiterates used. Technical people really frowned on AOL users. If you knew anything about computers you were on Compuserve. The Compuserve forums were the place to share information and get your technical questions answered.
AOL software was also noted as being buggy as hell and notorious for causing systems to crash. I knew friends and collegues that were quick to help newbies with their computer problems...... unless they found out they had AOL software installed. Then it was: "When you remove AOL from your computer, then come talk to me". Most AOL distributions we received in the mail hit the trashcan so fast is wasn't funny .

To AOL's credit, it has been around a long time and still survives. Their software has improved greatly and works OK for a lot of people now. But early distributions do not spark fond memories for a lot of us.
 
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The only thing I miss was the 3.5 floppy disks. You got one almost every month and it was a good way to remind to you back up your data. You got the floppy, tear the label off and format it, then back up your data. Nice incremental back up system with automatic reminders. :p
 
CompuServe was really too expensive for most 'regular' folks. Most of the ol' timers I recall were on Genie or BSR AfterDark, which were much more affordable, although still quite costly. Only rich people could afford CompuServe.

--T
 
Haha, people sure get emotional about AOL. :) I just like the designs on the CDs, same reason folks like designs on music CDs, I guess. I have an ADD-like tendency to go crazy about a collectible I'm into, then drop it on a dime.

I had a short membership to Compuserve. It cost $10/hr and was nothing but shopping ads. At least that's all I could ever find. Along with some hard-to-navigate forums on technical topics that were of no interest to me. I confess to being one of those illiterates that AOL so craftily targeted, LOL.
 
heh. Through the years, I've had 'em all. AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy (woah, man, vector graphics!) even eWorld and The Sierra Network. (Later The ImagiNation Network.)

I know I have old AOL, CompuServe, eWorld, and The Sierra Network disks lying around, as well as Netscape 1.1 (on two 3.5" floppies!) I even have a copy of Mosaic for Windows 1.0, but it was a download. All my 5.25" disks are in storage at the moment, so I can't tell you what I have on 5.25" right now.
 
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