Expanding Computer Ownership to the Masses
 

This thread is precipitated by these articles:

Geekzone

More details on the reasons they have given for this from this Routers article.



As much as I loathe to admit I like anything about AOL, and the typical AOL user, I think increased access to information is a good thing.

There are whole markets here that will be left behind if they don't have access. The idea of a low cost computer, though tied to AOL, is something we need. Even though these users are going to see mostly what AOL offers through those damn big stupid user buttons, some of the users will do more than just inhale the information offered them. I'm sure the plan is to take advantage of thier ignorance, but then again, everything in our consumer society is set that way. If even a few of these AOL computers puts a spark in some person that wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity, I say it's worth it.

The comptuers specs are hardly great, but I don't think that's part of the discussion I'm trying to start here. I'd liike us to discuss the pyscological and social effects a lack of access to information can have on social groups, and the effects of internet access to consumers. I believe that even if the information is tainted by AOL's touch it's the access to the internet that makes it worth it.
(and I apologize for the lack of polish on my thoughts here, I had 10 minutes to get this up....)


Discuss.

I don't even know why it's as expensive as it is currently. The commodity of computer parts and cheap labor it's very possible to bring that cost below even $100.

kudos to them for continuing where PeoplePC failed...

Agreed. My only concern is that of security--the recent rash of worms has only shown what happens when people treat computers as an appliance. They arent there yet, and shouldnt be treated as such.

Increasing access to information is a very good thing, though.

I predict TFP will be swarmed by AoL users in the next 5 months and we will all cry!

The thing is that you can already buy budget systems at fry's electronics for about 300 bucks and then you can get a cheaper dialup connection for less than half of what aol charges.

It's nothing new, only now it will be mass marketted.

AOL addresses cannot be used to sign up for TFP.

I've often argued that people must first obtain a license to own an internet-capable computer. That was back when I used to be a tech support guy.

I extended that thought to ALL electronics... as people at ATMs are sometimes befuddled...

but a long time ago one had to have a HAM license in order to talk to people overseas... it was to help make sure that people understood that there should be some diplomacy and civility in conversing with other cultures. Now any moron can flame anyone from thousands of miles away...

ummm i use aol and love it... course it only costs me $3.

Wow. Sounds like my old Virgin internet only computer. Damn, that thing was cool.

Well, I'm happy minorities and seniors will now be able to view pornography.

Oh, yeah. Don't forget developing an internet addiction!

Ehh...I think it's all marketting. Like others have said, this deal is nothing special. But...maybe it will make people more aware that they can get a computer with the internet, which is good.

The internet has a lot to offer in terms of communities, communication, information etc...and I think everyone should experience it.

It does, of course, have a learning curve. My mom, who's 55, has had a computer for 3 years and she still doesn't understand how to minimize applications. It took her about a year to be able to open a Microsoft word application by herself(she used to try opening it from aol)...and she refers to AOL as "my computer" because she's relied on the easy interface for so long that she doesn't really understand that there are other things available on the computer.

Then again, my grandfather (my mom's dad) who's in his 80s is able to use emails, type/print documents and access webpages perfectly fine.

Anyway...it's not really the older population that's my concern. I think what really matters is making sure poorer children have access to a computer with the internet and a printer. In schools these days, teachers just expect you to have a printer and the internet. They assign homework based on it...and when you're writing 10-page essays, using a computer is much easier and neater.
Not to mention that computer skills are vital for many jobs.

Most libraries ahve computers that they will allow you to use so it's not a necessity...but it's getting close.


*edit*
I'm just curious...why are AOL emails banned from signing up at TFP?

300 dollars with a 17 inch.. hmm... it's possible if you don't buy win xp to get that price :D i'm in taiwan this summer :P and everything they sell in the states relating to computer parts is overpriced it seems... the cheapness here is disgusting; just goes to show how much dell is ripping you off

I assume that AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo accounts aren't allowed on TFP because there have been bad experiances with members using them. Also the fact that they are widely known and/or free lets people who get banned simply make a new account and get back in. I actually had to create a third email account, outside of my hotmail and yahoo accounts, at a different address to get in here. I'll be damned if I pay for email when I hardly use it.

Internet technology and new forms of communication stemming from the internet are the future, without knowledge of this technology there will be more and more people left behind.

It's obvious that the advantage is more to Time Warner's side than anyone else's but their actions are commendable in the fact that they're a large company that's making a contribution that does more than help the advancement of the company itself.

Abuse

Hal, was discussing the computer-licensing idea with a coworker who does sysadmin and websupport at his college. I agree wholeheartedly. I'm nowhere near as literate as many people when it comes to computers, but I'm appalled by how little I knew until some friends educated me after the first formatting on my box. When I buy a new box, it will be properly set up with far more secure programming, protection and firewalls. Just waiting on the old box's hardware to go out.

Right now I connect via AOL from my dad's girlfriend's computer until I get back to school and my sweet T3 connection. It's disturbing how much spyware/adware is on this computer I'm on, and how much crap her daughter has defiled their HDD with. It's a 2.4 ghz computer that loads slower than my 750mhz thanks to the amount of shit running autonomously in the background. It makes me want to kick somebody :mad:

I used to be an advocate for a few things back when i worked tech support

1. license for computer use...I mean, seirously, woman calls in with a $4,000 computer and didn't know that the mouse had 2 buttons...she kept asking why it was hard to control the cursor, so i asked her what it was doing and she said everything was backwards..turns out, she had her palm over the buttons to click and had the mouse backwards.

2. I wanted a little red buzzer button on my phone...this button would send a 10,000 volt shock through the phone to the other end to hit the person in the ear when they said or did something totally stupid...for instance: "Ok, i opened the disk...what do i see in there? a spring and a black little flimsy circle of film..." that deserves a shock..not lethal, just an attention getter

As for the $299 computer...i think it's a cool idea, just funny that emachines has a $399 version w/out the aol attachments..

Also, i think it would be hard to get the cost down to $100 or so. Namely, Winxp is $99, 17" monitor is $100 or so, and just random parts are going to run that much...now, a manufacturer could easily put together one cheaper than $300, but as far as a DIY computer goes, if you're doing it legally and with new parts, i don't think you could get much cheaper than $299...now, factor in the $23.50/month for 12 months and yeah, you could work within those bounds.

Is this a new policy?
I have aol, and use its email for here.
Do you you want me to change it?

it's not a policy, it's a precaution. If you're registered all ready, you have nothing to worry about. We've simply removed the ability of people to use easily renewable email services from here on out. Some people get really zealous and will register about 30 different names just to fuck around with us. I thought *I* had no life.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

Woohoo! More spamzombies coming online soon!

They may shoot themselves in the foot on this one.......

Just wait until they ask one of those seniors for his credit card number...hell, there wives won't even let them have it now to go to wally world..

AOL is a handicap to new computer users. People who learn how to use the internet with AOL become net-retarded if they ever have to do something on a normal computer or anything complicated on the net in which AOL's limiting nature makes even more difficult.

While obviously there will be a portion of people that get this computer and can put it to good use and someday break free of limitations, everyone else will get so used to the training-wheels that they'll never have any hope. DOOOOOOM!!!!

I started out on Compuserve 2000 - basically AOL for grown-ups. After getting tired of Win 98 crashing all the time I decided to find out more about my system. I managed to learn enough to realize I had to get out of the ghetto or internet access and got cable. AOL is only a bad thing if you stick with it and let your hand be held.

Maybe I'm an exception, but I had AOL for the first 5 months of my internet life. I then switched to local ISP dialup, then in a year, to DSL. I consider myself a pretty experienced computer user, and I'm often called upon by neighbors to "fix" their computers. I think AOL gave me a decent introduction to the Internet world.

You need to go here: www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ and run this program on your dad's computer. It will find spyware and tracking cookies and get rid of it for you. I recommend running it once a week if you use the internet heavily. There are other spyware killers out there, and some use more than one, but I've been using this for over a year and it works real nice. Hope this helps.

This is AoL's attempt to find a new market of people who are so clueless about the internet that they will not realize that AoL sucks.