... and as a counterpoint to the "wag of the finger" to MSN, I applaud AOL's decision to go free. Because I've had broadband access for years and the only reason I've continued to pay for AOL was inertia, which is a damn stupid reason to keep coughing up $14.95 a month. But all I use AOL for is email and my journal (and the occasional IM), and paying for that seemed ridiculous. (Especially since I have eight email address -- six of which are still spam-free -- thanks to my broadband supplier.) So I've been asking myself, pretty much every month, if it's worth it to stay with AOL just to save myself the trouble of sending out "change of email" messages to everyone, and to keep my journal here.
And it has been looking less and less worth staying -- what with the banner ads showing up on our journals, and (I recently noticed) ads showing up when reading mail on aol.com. I mean, what's up with all the ads if I'm paying for this experience? I could get ads with free email tons of places.
And the answer now seems to be that this was AOL just putting all those ads in place for when it inevitably went free. So, yay. I'm glad I don't have to pay anymore, and can still keep my journal and email addresses (which enables AOL to keep using me to get its advertising out there). Everybody wins.
I hope.
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