Joe Laszlo Time Quotations

It's interesting this announcement comes so soon on the heels of the Time Warner deal. One of the synergies we see between AOL and Time Warner is TW giving AOL access to their cable.

I think all (the IM companies) think that this is an idea whose time has finally come. All of them realize that while voice chatting between IM users is a nice thing, what they really need to do longer term in order to make the platform more viable is make that connection out to the phone networks.

While this is unexpected, it indicates that AOL is remaining technologically agnostic. But I wouldn't expect AOL, if they expand DSL trials further, to compete in the same markets as Time Warner.

AOL's (customer) base has been with AOL for a long time and has long-established relationships with people. Your online identity is defined by your e-mail address and online or screen name. AOL does community very well.