[Need For Speed Rivals Download For Windows 1025
Betty Neyhart
Taking its most expansive efforts yet to deal with its long, steady decline in Internet subscribers as more Americans get high-speed service, AOL is giving away e-mail accounts along with software previously available only to customers who paid as much as $26 a month.
The strategy shift will likely accelerate the decline in AOL's core Internet access business, but the company figures it can make it up with online advertising dollars instead. The big question is whether AOL still has enough gravitas to make it work on a Web increasingly dominated by rivals Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
Jonathan Miller, AOL's chairman and chief executive, told The Associated Press that it no longer made sense fighting an industry trend, acknowledging that AOL wasn't competitive with its "above-market rate" offering.
Encouraged by such trends as its 40 percent jump in ad revenue in the second quarter, AOL figures that by making services free, it can prevent users from defecting to Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and other providers that have offered free e-mail for years.
Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, said the restructuring brings Time Warner Inc.'s online unit in line with "this decade as opposed to the last decade" and lets the company "hold on to the customers they had left."
The move marks the end of an era for a company that grew rapidly in the 1990s by making it easy to connect online, giving millions of Americans their first taste of e-mail, the Web and instant messaging through unsolicited discs stuffed in mailboxes and magazines.
America Online, as it was then known, became the undisputed leader of dial-up Internet access when many people still used that method to get online. The greeting users got when signing on -- "You've got mail!" -- became so ensconced in pop culture that it was the title of a movie.
"This is the final goodbye to the days when AOL was the king of the Internet," said Jeff Lanctot, general manager of aQuantive Inc.'s Avenue A/Razorfish, an agency that places some ads on AOL sites. "They now know they are the underdog."
AOL will continue losing dial-up subscribers, perhaps at a faster rate as the company scales back its notoriously aggressive retention efforts and no longer actively markets the service to obtain replacements.
Lanctot said AOL could pull off the strategy shift given its "tremendous potential" to tap video and other resources from other Time Warner units as well as a sizable subscriber base -- which, while dwindling, still makes AOL the leading Internet access provider.
While customers with broadband no longer will have to pay AOL anything if they call the company to cancel, AOL will still offer dial-up accounts at $26 a month for unlimited use. To compete with cheaper dial-up services from companies like United Online Inc., AOL is creating a new $10 monthly plan with unlimited access but fewer features than the $26 plan.
Besides AOL.com e-mail, AOL is giving away its proprietary software for accessing the once-premium offerings, as well as safety and security features such as parental controls. Most features become free immediately, though parental controls and services targeted at children and teens won't be free until early September.
Subscribers who dropped AOL within the past two years -- about 6 million households, some with multiple e-mail addresses -- will be able to reclaim their old AOL.com addresses simply by logging on with their old passwords.
The changes were announced Wednesday as Time Warner reported a $1 billion profit for the second quarter. AOL, which saw a 2 percent drop in revenue, accounts for one-fifth of Time Warner's revenue, and most of that contribution comes from subscription sales.
So the bet here is that rising advertising income and cost savings can be enough to replace the missing subscription revenue. AOL believes the trend was already in effect anyway: While its ad sales rose 40 percent in the second quarter, subscription revenue dropped 11 percent.
AOL considers its paying subscribers loyal, crediting them for 80 percent of the pages viewed -- and ad dollars generated -- even though they make up only 36 percent of the unique audience. But AOL would have risked losing them -- and the ad opportunities they represent -- by making them keep paying.
The number of unique U.S. visitors to AOL sites has remained steady, while its three chief rivals all saw gains in June, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings. ComScore Media Metrix found that in June, pages viewed at the main AOL sites -- by subscribers and free users -- dropped 26 percent, while Yahoo increased 23 percent.
Nonetheless, AOL sees opportunities in emerging features like online video. On Friday, AOL is revamping its video portal to give visitors one-stop access to free and for-pay clips from around the Internet, including those at rival sites like YouTube. The company hopes that by creating a user-friendly experience, the market would grow for everyone, including AOL.
Q: What is becoming free with this strategy shift?A: Just about everything not already free. Immediately, AOL is making e-mail accounts free, along with its proprietary software for accessing AOL features and its Safety and Security Center offering basic protection from viruses, spyware and other threats. By September, AOL will make parental controls free as well, along with now-premium offerings aimed at kids and teens.Q: I have dial-up access with AOL. What does this mean for me?A: AOL will still charge $25.90 a month for an unlimited dial-up plan that includes free phone support, though it will add 50 gigabytes of online storage and security features beyond the basic software that just became free. Customers can also choose a $9.95 monthly plan with unlimited access but no storage or enhanced security. Dial-up customers can stop paying AOL altogether by getting dial-up or broadband service through another provider.Q: I have broadband but I pay extra to AOL for its premium services such as e-mail and parental control. What does this mean for me?A: You will continue to be billed unless you call AOL to cancel service. AOL promises that its employees no longer will try to push customers to keep paying, a tactic that drew criticisms in the past. Those who occasionally need dial-up access, such as when they travel, can sign up for a $9.95 monthly plan with only 10 hours of access but enhanced security.Some customers who now get AOL-branded service through a cable or phone provider may find it cheaper to switch to a standalone offering from that provider. They can call AOL to cancel service, although they may have to call the provider as well to change their plan.Q: What does this mean for subscribers abroad?A: The changes are aimed at U.S. customers, although AOL says it won't stop European and other subscribers from participating in the freebies. However, they may have to download the U.S. version of software or use the English-language Web site.Q: What does it mean for former subscribers?A: Those who left AOL within the past two years can access their old accounts using the same passwords. Those who forgot the password can reset it by answering a security question, such as their pet's name, or providing the credit card they had used for verification.Q: Wasn't AOL free before?A: In late 2004, AOL began moving away from its traditional "walled garden" approach of emphasizing exclusive content, deciding to make most of its news articles, music video and other content available for free on ad-supported Web sites. However, AOL kept many services, including AOL.com e-mail accounts and parental controls, part of the paid offering.-- Anick Jesdanun, AP Internet writer
In 1030 aged fifteen, Harald fought in the Battle of Stiklestad together with his half-brother Olaf Haraldsson (later Saint Olaf). Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to the Danish king Cnut the Great two years prior. In the battle, Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced into exile to Kievan Rus' (the sagas' Gararki). Thereafter, he was in the army of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, becoming captain, until he moved on to Constantinople with his companions around 1034. In Constantinople, he rose quickly to become the commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, seeing action on the Mediterranean Sea, in Asia Minor, Sicily, possibly in the Holy Land, Bulgaria and in Constantinople itself, where he became involved in the imperial dynastic disputes. Harald amassed considerable wealth during his time in the Byzantine Empire, which he shipped to Yaroslav in Kievan Rus' for safekeeping. In 1042, he left the Byzantine Empire, returning to Kievan Rus' in order to prepare to reclaim the Norwegian throne. Possibly to Harald's knowledge, in his absence the Norwegian throne had been restored from the Danes to Olaf's illegitimate son Magnus the Good.
In 1046, Harald joined forces with Magnus's rival in Denmark (Magnus had also become king of Denmark), the pretender Sweyn II of Denmark, raiding the Danish coast. Magnus, unwilling to fight his uncle, agreed to share the kingship with Harald, since Harald in turn would share his wealth with him. The co-rule ended abruptly the next year as Magnus died: Harald became the sole ruler of Norway. Domestically, Harald crushed all local and regional opposition, and outlined the territorial unification of Norway under a national governance. Harald's reign was probably one of relative peace and stability, and he instituted a viable coin economy and foreign trade. Probably seeking to restore Cnut's "North Sea Empire", Harald also claimed the Danish throne, and spent nearly every year until 1064 raiding the Danish coast and fighting his former ally, Sweyn. Although the campaigns were successful, he was never able to conquer Denmark.
Not long after Harald had renounced his claim to Denmark, the former Earl of Northumbria, Tostig Godwinson, brother of the newly chosen (but reigning not for long) English king Harold Godwinson (also known as Harold of Wessex), pledged his allegiance to Harald, inviting him to claim the English throne. Harald assented, invading northern England with 10,000 troops and 300 longships in September 1066, raiding the coast and defeating the English regional forces of Northumbria and Mercia in the Battle of Fulford near York on 20 September. Although initially successful, Harald was defeated and killed in a surprise attack by Harold Godwinson's forces in the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September, which wiped out almost his entire army. Modern historians have often considered Harald's death, which brought an end to his invasion, as the end of the Viking Age.
795a8134c1