Originally posted by Alcatraz
MSN product manager Sarah Lefko said her service was effective in converting AOL members to its own side. "We continue to gain ground on them," she said. ". . . People really want to move up. Some people depict AOL as Internet access with training wheels. When they go to MSN, they can take a step up."
I actually do use AOL (until I can get my wife to switch to a web-based e-mail system, anyway). I am a dial-up user, but an ISP is all that AOL is to me, no mail, etc... Usually when I want to browse for a while, I'll switch to Netscape.

Anyways, the point is, some users think that they have to use their ISP's services, when they really don't.
The whole competition thing is based on money, and I admit that it is too expensive (hence the trying to get out of it by making the wife stop using @aol.com). As far as dial-up goes, just use your local phone company...it's much cheaper, and if you're lucky, you can get an ADSL connection for the price of a clogged AOL connection.

Ouroboros