In September, 1993, AOL connected to the previously existing internet, unleashing its hordes of unwashed, unclued, un-netiquated point-and-drool computer-illiterate newbies upon the formerly well behaved 'netizens who actually had to understand computers somewhat and had learned to respect the systems they were connecting to.
Before that time, such clue-lacking lusers were a small trickle every September when the college freshman hit the computers to which they got free access when they paid their college tuition. At that time, it was manageable with suggestions to lurk a while and observe how others behaved before jumping in with cluelessness, with polite, behind-the scenes education when nettiquette was breached, and with an occasional BOFH wielding a large mallet when the polite education didn't stick.
When the 800 pound gorilla (AOL) with its millions of "WOW! LOOKIT ME!!!---I IS ON THE INTERNET!!! ME TOO!!!!!!" lusers came along, no longer was it a mere trickle, nor were the perpetrators of the horrible breaches of nettiquette educable in any meaningful way.
Liken it to having lived for years in a nice, quiet house you and your neighbors built at the end of a long cul-de-sac in the country, with quiet, wooded walkways to your nearest neighbors, all of whom cooperated in keeping the neighborhood up. Suddenly a multinational corporation builds 40 cheap houses, practically eaves-to-eaves around you, without your having the slightest say in the matter, then rents them all to heavy metal, punk rock & rap bands who proceed to practice their music in their garages day and night at full volume, throw wild parties, drive their ATVs full speed down the formerly quiet walkways (both tearing them up and terrorizing the walkers), chop down the trees along those walkways and let them lay rotting, leave their beer bottles, garbage and wrecked cars all over your front yard, and, finally, flip you off every time you politely ask them to tone it down a little.
Thus, with AOL (and its now-defunct ilk like Prodigy, Compuserve, and Delphi), September now never ends. One man's .sig file for his email reads:
"The time when intelligent people could use much of the internet is dead. AOL killed it, Prodigy drove the nails into the coffin, WebTV buried it, Earthlink pissed on the grave, AT&T Worldnet stole all the flowers, and @home destroyed the headstone." -- unknown
Is it any wonder that having an AOL address is instantly evaluated [rightfully or not] by virtually any experienced 'net user as being a clueless point-and-drool newbie who couldn't even operate a computer if it didn't come with a mouse attached, and one who cannot even learn to use a real set of programs to access the internet, and worthy of little but contempt?
Sorry, AOL'ers, but that's the common view outside of AOL (“America's Online Lusers”), like it or not. Don't fit the mold? Change to a real ISP, learn to use the 'net properly, and you'll lose that moniker.
