Episode 44: AOL - Time Warner (with the Internet History Podcast)

On this extra-long episode of Acquired, Brian McCullough from the
Internet History Podcast returns to discuss perhaps the most
(in)famous merger of all time: AOL - Time Warner. Who doesn’t
remember the soothing sounds of 56k modems and the timeless
phrase, “You’ve Got Mail”? Join us all as we unpack how one of
the biggest ISP’s of the 90’s tried to take over the world… and
fell far short. 


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Topics Covered Include: 

AOL’s status in the 90’s / early 00’s

Explaining just what it is that AOL did at the height of
their popularity

How AOL pioneered a number of internet paradigms

AOL’s persistent money troubles and bailouts from other
companies

Steve Case foreseeing the coming era of broadband, inspiring
AOL to pursue working with a cable company

Ebay vs. Time Warner in a down-to-the-wire war for a merger
with AOL

Why the money dried up for AOL after their merger with Time
Warner

AOL and its value in the post-Time-Warner era

Speculating about what would have happened had AOL and others
stayed independent businesses

And much discussion on how to grade this one…



  The Carve Out: 


Ben: Give and Take by Adam Grant 

David:  Season of the Witch by David Talbot 

Brian: A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the
Information Age by Rob Goodman