Technical support people sometimes hate AOLers. Experienced users wouldn't put up with AOL's unreliable service, they argue, let alone AOL's slow performance and omnipresent advertisements! (Maybe that's why AOL markets their service to new users...) Over time, AOL's problems have had a cumulative impact on their user base. Technical support representatives complain that AOL's users are often the ones who are least-knowledgable about trouble-shooting their computer problems!

AOL Watch has discovered how they let off steam. Its origins remain a mystery. ("Our new tech support weenie sent it to me. His girlfriend sent it to him..." one remembers, or "A former co-worker of mine received it from a former co-worker of his...") But at least this piece of folk art has come to light. An .exe program which presents a remarkable rendition of how technical support representatives see the AOLer...

AOL is now pre-installed on most new computers, so their advertiser-friendly, censorship-happy policies represent these users' very first on-line experience. But there may be hope. Many of these users may be leaving AOL after they realize they have better alternatives. (Over a third of AOL's users have been on the service for less than a year.) Technical support reps still complain about annoying AOL users who continue to see the on-line world from their AOL perspective. But maybe it's not just the users -- many of the problems come directly from AOL's software. "Trouble shooting AOL's nuances is always a joy," one technical support represenative told AOL Watch...