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America Online (AOL) Disc

America Online (AOL) Disc

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Description
Growing from the services of PlayNET and Quantum Link, America Online (AOL) was founded in 1991 to provide Internet and email access to customers through its web portal with a user-friendly graphical interface. AOL service was originally sold by the hour. In 1993 AOL began mailing discs to prospective customers in one of the largest and most aggressive direct-mail campaigns ever. Discs contained the software needed to use AOL and provided a few hours of free service. This 3.5-inch floppy disk was mailed around 1995, and included fifteen hours of free AOL access. As the number of AOL users swelled to around eight million by 1996, AOL discs became ubiquitous in America’s mailboxes and the log-on greeting of “you’ve got mail” permeated the cultural consciousness. As other Internet service providers and broadband access entered the market, AOL discs began to offer hundreds and thousands of free hours.
References:
Wendy Grossman, Net.wars (New York: New York University Press, 1997).
For information on AOL’s disc campaign, see http://www.quora.com/Jan-Brandt/answers. Jan Brandt served as AOL’s Chief Marketing Officer from 1993 until 2003.
Object Name
software
date made
ca 1998
maker
America Online, Inc.
place made
United States: Virginia, Vienna
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
paper (overall material)
cellophane (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 12.2 cm x 19 cm x.3 cm; 4 13/16 in x 7 1/2 in x 1/8 in
ID Number
2010.3015.05
catalog number
2010.3015.05
nonaccession number
2010.3015
Credit Line
Gift of Bernard S. Finn
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Computers
Computers & Business Machines
American Enterprise
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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Comments

I have a 3.5" AOL software floppy disk in the original cellophane exactly like the one featured on this website. The only visible difference is that mine says "10 FREE Hours - $25 VALUE!". Could this be one of the earliest disks offered? I thought it might be really old, since it makes no mention of any software version.

Harry Bentrup

Wed, 2020-11-18 09:40

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