I remember using AOL 2.5 on my 386 with Windows 3.1. Needless to say I have had an AOL email address for a long time. There isn’t really any advantage to using AOL’s software (ever), especially just to check your mail. I have a Gmail address which is great, but it is such a pain in the ass to switch over emails. I always seem to forget someone or something important. I have to say I am sick of dealing with AOL’s crap. They have finally driven me over the edge.

 

It seems for the past year or so AOL has been “trying to get it right” with their whole web mail system. About every few weeks they would either change something small or redo the entire system. Screw the new system you just got “comfortable” with here’s a better one! Apparently they have settled with the latest version. We’ll call the “You’ve Got Mail, try not to slit your wrists while trying to find it.” version.

 

Almost everyone who accesses the email will access it through AOL.com. You can either click sign in, the little mail icon, or if you feel like wasting more time, you can hover the mailbox, wait for the nifty little green button to appear. Then you can move the mouse down a few inches and click the “Sign in to get your mail”. Seriously, what’s the point of that? How about I just click where I just was? They all take you to the same place anyways. So you put your username and password in and click sign in. You are now greeted with a loading message and some random huge emoticon and a description of what it is.

 

Congratulations you now know that ;) means wink. I’m sure that will help your conversations with 13 year old girls in “Teen Chat Lobby 87”.

 

Once your mail loads you hear the ever so pleasing “You’ve Got Mail!” Well I guess they have to tell you that you’ve got mail, otherwise you wouldn’t realize it. There is a gigantic tab covering all but the first 4 emails in your box. What is on the tab you ask? The same AOL News crap that I just saw on the front page. Why wouldn’t I want to hear about Britney Spears’ car trouble while I am trying to check my mail? Not only do I get to hear about Britney, but I also get to see ads all over the damn place. I can get my bachelor’s degree, lose inches off my waist line and I now know that there are “unbeatable” prices on Snack Packs at Wal-Mart. With that kind of information how does one lose inches off their waist line?

 

There is also a little bar with a bunch of colors at the top. You can click them to change the color of your mail! Oh how fancy. Want to know how I know this? Because there is a blue tip box that pops up every 10 seconds to let me know! Of course there is a little X in the corner to close it. Why bother though it will just pop back open!

 

In conclusion, AOL you suck balls. Major balls. I will be removing you from my life forever and if I ever need to be severely annoyed again, I’ll let you know.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at 3:54 pm and is filed under WTF!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.