Everyone hated AOL's 4.0 software. Or so it seems.
C|Net described
it as "chock full of advertising" -- and the San Francisco Chronicle decided it "doesn't deliver any revolutionary breakthrough." But
Steve Case's background isn't technology, it's marketing -- and AOL
quickly sent out gushy press releases. Then they went even further,
pre-preparing video clips which lazy television producers could use to
tout AOL's software for them on our local television newscast.
You'd think a savvy marketer like AOL would know better than to try the
bait-and-switch con on its users, but some users say AOL did just that.
AOL apparently told the users they'd won millions in a Coca-Cola contest,
but then refused to pay up on the grounds that their winnings were due to
a technical glitch!