AOL Germany: Farewell to the Internet pioneer |Stern.de

Do you still remember the time when computer magazines like "Online Today" and "Tomorrow" were at the kiosk?That was over ten years ago and at a time when Germany was not yet completely digitized.Google was not yet the most powerful company and the most valuable brand in the world.Those who talked over the Internet at the time spoke about AOL.

The company was founded in 1983 as a Quantum Link, the renaming in America online took place five years later.AOL Europe was only founded in 1995.If you didn't want to take your first attempts at the Internet with T-Online, you can choose the AOL software on the web.And that was impressive: the access software was given away via CD.The company distributed so many discs that there were even instructions on what could be done with the storage media.AOL was everywhere.To show the Germans how easy it is to use, Boris Becker committed the company as an advertising medium.His question "I am already in there" was as simple as captivating.At times, almost three million Germans used the service, and there were even over 30 million customers worldwide.Not only could you surf cheaply, the company also brought news and entertainment on the screen.

Gold digging mood online

It was the time of the gold digging mood on the net.You just had to have a good Internet address and investors and shareholders spent huge amounts to at least own part of the company.AOL was so powerful at the time that it merged with Time Warner, the world's largest media company at the time.AOL even played the main role in a Tom Hanks film: In "E-Mail for you" Hanks used the online service to find his heart.The company was also involved in sports and was the name sponsor for the stadium of the Bundesliga club HSV for several years.

But the golden times were quickly over for AOL, the high letters at the HSV venue have long been broken down.While the company continued to have many customers in the United States, the star of AOL in Europe sank continuously.Customers no longer needed to install special software to get online.You no longer wanted to dial up via a modem, you wanted to surf with a quick DSL connection.The Internet citizen became more and more responsible when choosing his web access, AOL lost customers around customers.In 2007, the company sold the Internet access business to the competitor Hansenet.

AOL no longer played a role in the modern Internet, Google is the measure of all things on the web.At the end of 2005, the world's largest search engine operator cost the entry at AOL one billion dollars.In the summer of 2009, Time Warner bought these shares back significantly cheaper, only to separate from AOL in December.Almost three weeks later, the official.AOL had long since disappeared from consciousness.Nothing is reminiscent of the company that once defined the web for millions.

After the years of success, the former battleship drove a digital taper course.The sale of customers and an almost annual complete change of the management team could not stop the decline.AOL no longer stood for the Internet, it stood for nothing.No more German wonder "am I in there?".Internet access is part of the standard equipment.Death came creeping, but was inevitable.Now the gates are closed in Germany, AOL is no longer needed.Take care, AOL, and thank you for the net.