November 3, 2003

Last One Out Delete the Spam Please

MarketingWonk: sees the last, lone AOL subscriber by 2013. Probably stuck in a private chat room since 1999.

DM News: AOL Subscriber Loss Continues; Ad Sales Stabilize

At the current rate of subscriber losses, AOL will have only one member left on August 17, 2013. Losing about 700,000 subscribers this past quarter, despite its loss-stemming effort in introducing the new AOL 9, AOL reported a one third decrease in advertising spending, due mostly to the fact that many of its largest advertisers couldn't wait to get out of the dumb contracts they signed years ago.

Faced with the prospects of significantly less barter media within the Time Warner network (decreasing by $36 million this past quarter); a subscribership that is realizing slowly but surely that the online service is really just an Internet service provider; and a stable of major advertisers that aren't suckers anymore, the worlds largest online service will need to start providing competitive value to both advertisers and subscribers in order to maintain a revenue level lower than the peak it experience a couple years ago.

Posted by Vanderleun at November 3, 2003 2:18 AM
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This is the first thing your users see, and probably the single most important visible part of your application. It is the first chance you have at making an impression and the best chance to help establish your brand.

Posted by: Joseph at January 13, 2004 6:20 AM

But limit your animations to whatever is required to communicate the necessary information. Avoid annoying animations that discourage ease of use. Ask yourself, "What do I need to show the user, and what is the cleanest way possible to achieve that?" A good example is the Mail application for Mac OS X. Whenever a new message arrives, the Dock icon changes appearance to indicate a changed state.

Posted by: Gervase at January 13, 2004 6:21 AM

Not quite as entertaining as Shrek, but Dock animation can be an important and useful function in your application. For example, Dock animation is a helpful way to indicate the status of your application.

Posted by: Court at January 13, 2004 6:21 AM

Not quite as entertaining as Shrek, but Dock animation can be an important and useful function in your application. For example, Dock animation is a helpful way to indicate the status of your application.

Posted by: Gentile at January 13, 2004 6:22 AM

The simple fact is that, when all other factors are equal, where will consumers spend their money? I believe that in the long run, the best looking, easiest-to-use applications will also be the most successful. I think that's why Apple encourages developers to write programs that are 100 percent Aqua-compliant.

Posted by: Geoffrey at January 13, 2004 6:25 AM

Due to the positioning of the Dock, remember that when you build an application, you have to be sure that new document window sizes and positions do not violate the Dock's space. Dock is temperamental and Dock loves his space. If you default to a window size that expands behind the dock, users will have a difficult time reaching the navigation and resize areas at the bottom of the screen. I can personally say that more than once I have been rather peeved that I couldn't get to an area of the window to resize because the default window settings always pop up behind the Dock. In addition, the new Dock in 10.1 will allow users to position their Dock location on either side of the screen as well.

Posted by: Christiana at January 13, 2004 6:25 AM