AOL is alive and well.
Decades after its heyday, AOL offers a subscription-based browser called AOL Desktop Gold, priced at $6.99 per month. While no longer tied to dial-up internet, it retains much of the charm of its late-’90s and early-2000s predecessor.
In a recent YouTube &t=2s">video, Michael MJD takes viewers on a tour of AOL Desktop Gold. Upon launching the app, Michael is greeted with AOL’s classic icons and the original welcome sound. “OMG, that’s still in here,” he exclaims in the video. “We have to have ‘You’ve got mail!’ in here.” Sure enough, he sends himself an email and the iconic voice pops up. “That blast from the past that somehow refuses to die!,” one commenter calls it. “Even Internet Explorer went the way of the dodo and made way for Microsoft Edge.”
AOL Desktop Gold’s intended demographic is obvious. “Target audience is 100% old people that are on AOL probably since before 2000,” one commenter suggests. “I imagine most people using AOL Desktop Gold have been paying for it for years, thinking they need the subscription to get online,” Michael says. Many users, he adds, may not even realize they’re still being charged and, despite the $6.99 monthly subscription fee, the interface is littered with ads. “They’re just selling you more stuff in a service you’re already paying for,” says Michael.
In terms of functionality, the app offers little beyond what any standard web browser can already do. “It’s bizarre that this still exists and gets updates,” Michael says. “I imagine it’s just two senior developers who can’t stand each other but have been stuck maintaining this relic for the past 20 years in some forgotten corner,” one commenter suggests.
While a free version exists, Michael ultimately concludes that the paid version isn’t worth the price tag, except perhaps for the nostalgia of hearing, “You’ve got mail.” “Without the egregious ads it would honestly be really cool for it to just offer an old school experience if someone just wanted some nostalgia,” one comment reads. “Well, not for $6.99 a month, but you get the idea.”
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