美国公司-详解 (重定向自AOL公司)本条目包含过多不是中文的内容，欢迎协助翻译若已有相当内容译为中文，可迳自去除本模板美国公司（American Online，简称AOL）美国公司官方网站网址：目录 1 美国公司简介 2 史蒂夫凯斯 3 公司历史 4 参考文献美国公司简介 美国（AOL）是美国时代华纳的子公司，著名的因特网服务提供商 美国服务(AOL)公司：总部设在弗吉尼亚州维也纳的一种信息服务公司，可提供电子邮件、新闻组、教育和娱乐服务，并支持对因特网访问美国服务(AOL)公司是美国最大因特网服务提供商之一2000年美国服务(AOL)公司与媒体巨人华纳时代公司合并，2001年1月11日该交易被联邦贸易委员会证实合并旨在扩展品牌内容服务以及通信服务的大众市场，合并后的公司形成了一个通信和媒体大公司，这个大公司拥有因特网最大用户群体，并有娱乐、出版和有线电视领域的广泛基础 美国是全球首屈一指的ISP而其旗下的另一公司CompuServe定位于增值业务此外，AOL公司提供以下免费服务：数字城市（当地城市指南）、地图查找、Moviefone（影片相关信息以及和订票服务）、ICQ、AOL Instant Messager、Spinner（流式音乐）和Winamp下载。
2009年3月11日，AOL方面通过其在中国公关公司首度向搜狐IT宣布其退出中国大陆，终止北京公司的运营[1]史蒂夫凯斯 美国（AOL）的创始人：史蒂夫凯斯（Steve Case） 史蒂夫凯斯创立了“美国”，全美最大的网络服务商，是目前世界上两家真正通过网络赢利的公司之一，第一个被列入《财富》500强的互联网服务公司，个人年收入1.17亿美元，居《福布斯》杂志全美1999年50家高薪大公司主管的亚军公司历史 AOL began as a short-lived venture called Quantum Computer Services (or QCS), founded by William von Meister. Its sole product was an online service called Gameline for the Atari 2600 video game console after von Meisters idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Brothers. (Klein, 2003) Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. Gameline permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of approximately $1 per hour. In 1983, the company nearly went bankrupt, and an investor in Control Video, Frank Caufield, had a friend of his, Jim Kimsey, brought in as a manufacturing consultant. That same year, Steve Case joined the company as a full-time marketing employee upon the joint recommendations of von Meister and Kimsey. Kimsey went on to become the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the newly renamed Quantum Computer Services in 1985, after von Meister was quietly dropped from the company. Case himself rose quickly through the ranks; Kimsey promoted him to vice-president of marketing not long after becoming CEO, and later promoted him further to executive vice-president in 1987. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to ascend to the rank of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991. Kimsey changed the companys strategy, and in 1985 launched a sort of mega-BBS for Commodore 64 and 128 computers, originally called Quantum Link ("Q-Link" for short). The Quantum Link software was licensed from PlayNet, Inc. In May 1988, Quantum and Apple launched AppleLink Personal Edition for Apple II and Macintosh computers. After the two companies parted ways in October 1989, Quantum changed the services name to America Online.[6][7] In August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with the Tandy Corporation. From the beginning, AOL included online games in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in the original PlayNet software system. In the early years of AOL the company introduced many additional innovative online interactive titles and games, including: Graphical chat environments Habitat (1986-1988) and Club Caribe (1988) from LucasArts. The first online interactive fiction series QuantumLink Serial by Tracy Reed (1988). Quantum Space, the first fully automated Play by email game (1989-1991). The original Dungeons & Dragons title Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios (1991-1997), the first Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) to depict the adventure with graphics instead of text (1991). The first chat room-based text role-playing game Black Bayou (1996-2004), a horror role-playing game from Hecklers Online and ANTAGONIST, Inc.. In February 1991 AOL for DOS was launched using a GeoWorks interface followed a year later by AOL for Windows. In October 1991, Quantum changed its name to America Online. These changes coincided with growth in pay-based BBS services, like Prodigy, CompuServe, and GEnie. AOL discontinued Q-Link and PC Link in the fall of 1994. Massive growth Case positioned AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in particular contrast to CompuServe, which had long served the technical community. The PlayNet system that AOL licensed was the first online service to require use of proprietary software, rather than a standard terminal program; as a result it was able to offer a graphical user interface (GUI) instead of command lines, and was well ahead of the competition in emphasizing communication among members as a feature. In particular was the Chat Room concept from PlayNet, as opposed to the previous paradigm of CB-style channels. Chat Rooms allowed a large group of people with similar interests to convene and hold conversations in real time, including: Private rooms - created by any user. Hold up to 27 people. Conference rooms - created with permission of AOL. Hold up to 48 people and often moderated. Auditoriums - created with per。