AOL is interesting. I’ve had an AOL account since early on, and have kept it as my main email for all these years because I hate changing stuff like this. With the advent of broadband (DSL and cable modems), most people seem to get email addresses with their ISP, eg. joe@adelphia.com. The problem is, ISPs don’t seem to last very long. I had Adelphia which was recently bought by Comcast. So all the @adelphia email addresses are dead and everyone had to get new @comcast addresses, and many people can’t get the address they want. So they invent new email addresses, and expect everyone to update their address books. And I hate silly email addresses – who the hell is furrycat@whatever.com? Whatever happened to myname@whatever.com? My guess is that they lose 50% of their contacts when this happens (I only update the people I’m really interested in). So get an email addess thats not tied to your ISP.

OK, so back to AOL. I’d have dumped AOL a while back if they hadn’t (quietly) gone free. Despite the stigma of having an @aol.com email address, I like mine & don’t want to change, and if you think less of me because I’m @aol.com, fuck you.

Now, finally to the genesis of this post: AOL has XM radio – commercial free! – which I find valuable. I have a bazillion CDs and MP3s, but sometimes I want someone else to choose the music. Right now I’m listening to Yours Is No Disgrace by Yes. I’ve never owned a Yes album, but I like their stuff in small bites, which is how it comes on the “radio”. So, despite their cheesy image and McNews, I like AOL.