[thelist] Strange AOL related error.

deke web at master.gen.in.us
Mon Mar 26 10:19:13 CST 2001


On 26 Mar 2001, at 15:06, Matt Wenham wrote:

> > BTW I have just rejoined AOL and there does not appear to be any
> > problems with it? I never have understood the sweeping "Ugh" 
> > statements about this ISP.
 
> They don't provide an SMTP server for you to use, and the software can
> be difficult to remove from your machine should you want to. Doesn't
> stop me using it either, though.

AOL users don't see the web the same way other users do.

1. By default, they use the proprietary compression of the 
Johnson-Grace "ART file" which makes graphics look bad.
Users *can* change this, but most don't have any idea that
there is a problem.

2. Even if your background JPG is 20x1600, it tiles in 
browsers set larger than 640 pixels. 

3. They are behind a caching firewall that does *not* bother to 
read meta tags, and thus often delivers obsolete content. (It also
does not support HTTP/1.1 as they claim it has not been 
finalized. Funny, the way *I* read the standard, it sure is.)

4. They are wretchely inconsistant; for instance, each username
gets his own "cookie jar" in Mac versions of AOL, but all users
share one "cookie jar" in Windows versions.

5. They do not support windows-target in META tag, which means
you have to jump through hoops in order to keep your site from 
being trapped in some idiot's badly-written frames site. 

6. AOL tells users to turn off mail *from* the internet to avoid 
getting spam, with the result that users get irate about 
webmasters who seem not to answer email.

7. The AOL firewall makes it look like everyone is in Virginia,
thus making it impossible to deliver content localized by
time zone. 

8. When AOL users experience problems, AOL tech support 
always blames your site, unless, of course, you are paying 
upwards of $2000 a week to "partner" with AOL.  

9. AOL email software does not comply with RFC822, the
standard that existed even before AOL was formed.

10. AOL installation software corrupts any network connections
you already have, whether they are connections to real ISPs
or a home networking setup. 

11. AOL users have a reputation for being clueless, partially
because their advertising targets newbies and partially because
clueful users need a *strong* reason to pay a premium price to
put up with such problems as these. (A webmaster, of course,
has a strong reason for wanting to know how a third of the 
internet sees his site. Frequent travelers have a strong reason, 
too; using a local ISP and IPASS is expensive when you're out
of town, and may be impossible when out of the country.)

12. AOL has a reputation for protecting pedophiles - and some
say, promoting pedophilia.  Several years ago, one of their staff
lawyers was arrested in his office at AOL on child porn charges.
AOL kept him on the payroll until he was convicted and disbarred.

deke

<tip type="AOL Compatibility">
AOL doesn't screw up your GIF files if they are animated.
You only need to animate one pixel - which adds *very* little
to file size - to accomplish this.
</tip>



--------
I got this powdered water. 
Now I don't know what to add. 
            -- Steven Wright




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