AOL 2.0 For Pocket PC 2002 Released

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.handango.com/brainstore/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=311&productId=67755' target='_blank'>http://www.handango.com/brainstore/...productId=67755</a><br /><br /></div>After a few months of beta-testing, AOL has released their client for Pocket PC 2002 (not to be confused with AOL Instant Messenger, which doesn't provide dial-up to AOL's network).<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/parekh/news/20030508-AOL-PPC2002.gif" /><br /><br />Unfortunately, it costs $20, but if you need AOL dial-up access, this is the only way to go. (affiliate link)

[Paul P]

Speaking of, I got this email today:

Greetings beta testers,

We are pleased to announce that Intellisync(R) for AOL is ready to begin Beta testing. Intellisync for AOL allows you to synchronize your AOL Address Book and Calendar with either your Palm device, Palm Desktop, Outlook or your Pocket PC 2002 device.

Hmmmm....I wonder if they'll charge for that too.

[yawanag]

As much as I dislike AOL. It's the last thing I would want to see on my PDA.

[Abba Zabba]

AOL.... who really uses AOL anymore that would be surfing this site :?: I think people that use PPC are some of the last people that would want to use AOL and not to mention pay for it :roll:

[jeremyweisser]

Why not just download it for free http://mobile.aol.co.uk/redesign/pda/index.jsp

[Janak Parekh]

Why not just download it for free http://mobile.aol.co.uk/redesign/pda/index.jsp
I only see the previous version of AOL for WinCE (v1.1) there, which is known to have major issues with Pocket PC 2002.

As for the "who really uses AOL anymore" argument... we've argued it before -- there are many reasons: they may have a well-known email address, it might be their only Internet access option, etc. Let's not tie this announcement into a referendum on why AOL is good or bad, please.

--janak

[Foo Fighter]

AOL for Pocket PC? Why would I want AOL on any computing device, let alone my precious PPC? :drinking:

[Kirk Stephens]

I was under the impression that AOL had discontinued development for the Pocket PC 2002 platform...I think I remember they even put out an official statement way back when saying they weren't going to put out a version of their client for PPC 2002.

O-well...i guess this is kind of good news for whatever remaining AOL users there are out there...

[Ainvar]

I only have there IM client on my pda and thank god I backup crap.. why would I want to pay 20 for anything from AOL. It is useless, buggy and bloated. If Trillian had a client for the PDA then I would be very happy.
AOL shoves out million of cds for you to install on the pc but they want to charge for the PDA. Who was the lame idiot who thought of that idea.



Yes they will charge for intellisync also, specially since intellisync charges a nice fee for there product (it is worth it at times).

[dcharles18]

Any one else notice that the screenshot is PPC 2000 ???

[SeanH]

Any one else notice that the screenshot is PPC 2000 ???


That is typical for a AOL user. Most of them still use win 95 on the desktop.

Why would anyone with a advanced device like PPC have anything to do with AOL.

Sean

[Gerard]

Over the past year I've received 8 AOL CDs. 7 regular size and one mini. Last year AOL kept starlings and crows out of my garden fairly well, glinting in the sunlight in any little breeze, startling the birds away from the food growing there. But up in my cherry tree they had a lot to eat, so these 8 CDs will mostly get tied up there, in the outer branches, each on about a foot of twine. So you see, AOL is... for the birds. :)

[AZMark]

got aol on mine, and will bet i know more than you.

[T-Will]

i don't got aol on mine, and will bet i know less than you.

[tccox]

OK , OK, I just had to buy it for the entertainment value. I use ATT Worldnet for myself and keep the AOL for the kids. Bought the AOL for PPC 2002 , downloaded and installed, ok, everything so far. Worked fine at work using TCP/IP to connect. Went home , put the ol Viking CF modem in the Axim and tried dialup. OK setup went fine and I'm connected !!!!!!! Hmmmmmm seems awful slow downloading all my SPAM from my account (Strange, I do not even use my AOL e-mail address and it was still full of hundreds of junk e-mails) OK , now I'm tring the INternet icon and Oops, internet access does not seem to work using dialup , at first it went to IE then tried to dialup using my ATT number, I deleted my ATT number and tried again, now I get "Unable to connect with current settings, To change your connection....." message. So I cannot use IE when dialed in to AOL. So the fun starts, I call AOL support for handhelds. After about 30 minutes on hold I was told I needed a "Web Clipper" for the software to work. I know, I know. No, Don't think thats the problem. A few more minutes and another answer from AOL suppport. "Well, Handango is to one who actually developed the software so its their problem" I kid you not. So, $20 thrown away but as I said some good laughs per AOL support. Oh, another odd thing, when using the AOL dialin I can successfully sync my Avantgo accounts, it's slow, 15 minutes vs 2 minutes using ATT but still it does work. Weird huh...

[rzanology]

lol you guys are funny. I'm an AOL uer for all these years because of the e-mail address, but i happen to think they are begginig to lose their minds. What makes them think i am going to pay $20 for that??? I bet what they don't know is i still have the beta version from the orginal link you guys had :) TAKE THAT AOL!!!!!!

[dh]

Over the past year I've received 8 AOL CDs. 7 regular size and one mini. Last year AOL kept starlings and crows out of my garden fairly well, glinting in the sunlight in any little breeze, startling the birds away from the food growing there. But up in my cherry tree they had a lot to eat, so these 8 CDs will mostly get tied up there, in the outer branches, each on about a foot of twine. So you see, AOL is... for the birds. :)

That's the first good use I've seen for AOL CDs. At least in the old days when they used to send floppies you could format them and reuse them.

[ExtremeSIMS]

Why not just download it for free http://mobile.aol.co.uk/redesign/pda/index.jsp
I only see the previous version of AOL for WinCE (v1.1) there, which is known to have major issues with Pocket PC 2002.

As for the "who really uses AOL anymore" argument... we've argued it before -- there are many reasons: they may have a well-known email address, it might be their only Internet access option, etc. Let's not tie this announcement into a referendum on why AOL is good or bad, please.

--janak

Thanks, Janak. Gotta nip those l33t h4X0r5 in the bud. :lol:

[Pony99CA]

got aol on mine, and will bet i know more than you.
That comment is just as ignorant as the anti-AOL ones. Please, let's follow Janak's suggestion and discuss the software, its function and its pricing. Steve C. is lurking just off-stage to put this into the Hall of Flame and Shame if we don't. :-)

That said, I still have the AOL 2.0 beta, and just checked my E-mail with it yesterday (before I saw this post). I don't use AOL as my ISP, but I've been a member since before it was AOL (it used to be PC Link), and have a lot of people I know there.

If this were free, I would definitely install it, but $20 seems excessive. AOL is free for the PC (not including usage), but $20 for the Pocket PC? They used that same strange strategy with AIM -- free for the PC, $20 for the Pocket PC (even though it used to be free, and can still be found free on their U.K. site).

I can understand their position, though. There is likely a much smaller market for mobile AOL, so they have to recoup their development costs by charging for the software (especially if somebody else did the development). On the PC, the cost of developing the software is probably included in the montly charges.

Steve

[Gerard]

Um, Pony99CA, I could be waaaay out on this recollection, but it seems to me that the 'I have AOL and I bet I know more than you' line is from an old AOL ad campaign. Anyone can confirm this? I think, but of course can not prove, that the post which raised your hackles was intended as a joke, as was the immediate reply about relative ignorance.
And I had AOL once, for about 3 weeks right at the beginning of having a PC. It was a free trial, and I tried to use it, but the connection speeds were never better than 24K, and even then I got error messages on about half the URLs I entered or links I clicked. AOL was asking USD$24.95 from me at the time, which here in Canada came to over $40. I didn't let it stay the month, never paid them a dime, and spent a little while figuring out what a registry was so I could hunt down and delete every last trace of it after that. Months later I was still finding bits and pieces lying around.
The 'cute' GUI on that puppy made my skin crawl even as a newbie, those three years ago. Even today, I know no one here in Vancouver who uses AOL. I'm sure there must be someone, otherwise they'd not keep burying us in the CDs, right?

[disconnected]

I have Roadrunner at home, but keep AOL as well for a few reasons --
I'm too lazy to change my email address (I've had it for many years, since AOL was the only unlimited service available), AOL has local numbers almost everywhere I travel, and even the 800 number has come in handy a few times.

Anyway, tccox, I installed it on my iPAQ 3975 and, although it's quite slow, it does work with dialup, both for email and for internet access with PIE. (and I didn't have to change or delete any of the various other connections I have set up.) As with previous email-only versions, it also works using the TCP/IP option to get mail when you're online by some other means.

[Pony99CA]

Um, Pony99CA, I could be waaaay out on this recollection, but it seems to me that the 'I have AOL and I bet I know more than you' line is from an old AOL ad campaign. Anyone can confirm this?

I don't recall an AOL ad campaign like that. I also did a few :google: searches (including aol "I bet I know more", "America Online" "I bet I know more" and "America Online" "know more" ad campaign) and didn't see any hits about ad campaigns.

But maybe you know more than I do. :-D

I think, but of course can not prove, that the post which raised your hackles was intended as a joke, as was the immediate reply about relative ignorance.

And that's what smilies are for. Don't blame me for missing the joke if someone doesn't know how to use them. :-) :-D :lol: :rofl:

Steve

[Gerard]

Is there no room on the web any more for dry wit? Or does everything have to have a cute little emoticon now? I'm imagining an AOLized library of the 22nd century, with Chaucer full of impish grins and Blake all angry emoticons of wrathful smiliness. I wonder what James Tiberious Kirk would think of all this? I mean, since he's a tech expert now and all.

[Steven Cedrone]

Is there no room on the web any more for dry wit?

What we need is a shrivelled up smiley to indicate "Dry Humour". I've been burned by a brother "across the pond" a few times for taking a post literally that was meant as a joke (hey wait, wasn't that you Gerard??? :twisted: )...

We Americans just can't get that subtle dry wit...(we need visual aids) :wink: :wink: :wink:

Steve

[Gerard]

I want a beer emoticon, and not that stinkin' Guinness one either. Or maybe a back bacon and maple syrup smiley, only make mine Yves Veggie Back Bacon... &lt;wink> Across the 'pond'? What ponds are there on the 49th parallel? Oh yeah, there's those lakes a couple of thousand miles East of here. But I suspect you were alluding to my being a pasty Englisher, and that I am certainly not. Not a wee drop of English blood flows in these veins, not that it matters. Still, perhaps my droll usages an phraseology leave certain impressions of Englishness. For misleading anyone so, I apologise.
And you US people not getting dry wit, well, that's an unsafe generalisation. I happen to know a few very witty, even occassionally sardonic 'Americans.' So you have no real excuse. &lt;winking harder, with both eyes alternately>

[Steven Cedrone]

I want a beer emoticon, and not that stinkin' Guinness one either. Or maybe a back bacon and maple syrup smiley, only make mine Yves Veggie Back Bacon... &lt;wink> Across the 'pond'? What ponds are there on the 49th parallel? Oh yeah, there's those lakes a couple of thousand miles East of here. But I suspect you were alluding to my being a pasty Englisher, and that I am certainly not. Not a wee drop of English blood flows in these veins, not that it matters. Still, perhaps my droll usages an phraseology leave certain impressions of Englishness. For misleading anyone so, I apologise.
And you US people not getting dry wit, well, that's an unsafe generalisation. I happen to know a few very witty, even occassionally sardonic 'Americans.' So you have no real excuse. &lt;winking harder, with both eyes alternately>

O.K., Maybe it wasn't you... :wink:

Then again: Canada, Great britain...Same thing.... :wink: :wink: :wink:

Notice the stategic placement of the smilies...

I once knew a very witty American, saw him on some BBC programme (Like the non-us spelling of program???)...

Steve

[Gerard]

Okay, alright, I think this thread is waaay too far off topic. Time to get back to bashing.... er, um, I mean discussing AOL's arrival for the PPC, right? So, has anyone got any idea why anyone without an existing account with AOL would want to buy this program and subscribe to AOL? Would it just be the availability of dialup numbers for travelling types, or is there some other reason? And I heard mention somewhere in all this of it being bloatware; how big is the install, anyway? If it's as big as NotFront, and as buggy, then there's really no point at all, is there?

[Steven Cedrone]

If I needed the AOL account for travel, I would hope the $20.00 would be applied to my first months access costs...

I really can't understand why they would give the PC version of the software away, yet charge for the Pocket PC version (they need any subscribers they can get)...

Who knows...

Steve

[Gerard]

Yeah, that is weird. Anyone who buys this is a captive audience anyway, a subscriber for as long as they use it. It's not like NetFront, where once you buy it the author may never see another dime of your cash. And if Opera ever got a browser together for the PPC, I could see them charging for it too. By the way, is this a browser? I keep seeing references to 'using PIE' while connected using AOL. Does that mean that this is just a dialup assist app, not a browser at all? Or is it a complete browser with a GUI, address bar, a way to save links, opening in new windows maybe... and does it support Flash at all, with or without the Macromedia plugin? And what about sounds and animations? How about whether one can tap on software and media download links, and java links and functions? It had better supply at least some of that to be worth the cash.

[Pony99CA]

And I heard mention somewhere in all this of it being bloatware; how big is the install, anyway? If it's as big as NotFront, and as buggy, then there's really no point at all, is there?
AOL 2.0 Beta is about 1.7 MB. For comparison, AIM 2.0 is about 1.4 MB.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

I really can't understand why they would give the PC version of the software away, yet charge for the Pocket PC version (they need any subscribers they can get)...
You didn't buy my explanation of recouping the development costs?

I suspect this is for existing subscribers, not new ones. I really doubt they'd get any new subscribers with this; it's far too limited -- no chat rooms, none of the exclusive content, etc.; just E-mail, IMs, your Buddy List, your address book and your file cabinet.

If you have an ISP you can access on your Pocket PC, you could use Inbox to E-mail people on AOL and AIM for your Buddy List and IMs.

Steve

[Pony99CA]

By the way, is this a browser? I keep seeing references to 'using PIE' while connected using AOL. Does that mean that this is just a dialup assist app, not a browser at all? Or is it a complete browser with a GUI, address bar, a way to save links, opening in new windows maybe... and does it support Flash at all, with or without the Macromedia plugin? And what about sounds and animations? How about whether one can tap on software and media download links, and java links and functions? It had better supply at least some of that to be worth the cash.
No, this is not a browser (at least in the Beta). Clicking on the Internet icon just brings up Pocket Internet Explorer -- to a non-existent URL even (http://www.aol.com/start.adp). I was at least hoping to get some AOL-specific content, but nooooo....

For those that care, .adp is apparently an AOLserver Dynamic Page File.

Steve

[Steven Cedrone]

You didn't buy my explanation of recouping the development costs?

Sorry no...

If I had an AOL account, I would demand that the Pocket PC version be given to me at no cost...

It just doesn't make sense to hit the Pocket PC user for "development costs". They spend much more on development of the PC version of their software...

Just my .02

Steve

[Pony99CA]

You didn't buy my explanation of recouping the development costs?
Sorry no...

If I had an AOL account, I would demand that the Pocket PC version be given to me at no cost...

It just doesn't make sense to hit the Pocket PC user for "development costs". They spend much more on development of the PC version of their software...

But, as I said, they probably include the development costs of the PC version in the price of the service. Since they don't charge extra for a mobile service (at least not on the Pocket PC), maybe they have to recoup their costs on this client. If they used a contractor to create the client, that's even more likely.

As for demanding the client be free, you could try, but what would you do if they said no? :-D

While I wouldn't pay $20 for it, I don't think it's that outrageous, either. WebIS' @Mail costs $25 and doesn't have IM capability (not that I'm claiming the quality or function are really comparable, mind you), so, if you use AOL a lot while mobile, $20 would be very reasonable.

Steve

[tccox]

Well, apparently it works with all except the Dell Axim. Others on Dell newsgroups reporting the same problem, unable to access Internet, odd, how very odd........