__ Tracking the profits of "doom." __
May 1994, $1.09
James Gleick author, then-technology columnist, The New York Times
"The large private online services, CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online, all rely on graying technology ... Either they will open their gates to the Internet and become subsumed by it, or they will remain lakes isolated and apart from the ocean."
October 1995, $5
Glenn Jones chair and CEO of Jones Intercable
"Online services, such as America Online and CompuServe, had better be praying that the Justice Department has its way, or the Microsoft Network will roll right over them. It will be like Godzilla tromping the Easter Bunny."
Bob Metcalfe inventor of Ethernet, 3Com founder
"AOL has leapt to prominence by effectively distributing its PC software - I have more AOL floppy disks than any other kind. MSN will now come in the Windows box, one button away. AOL's momentum will be broken, alas."
June 1996, $5.47
David S. Hilzenrath staff writer, The Washington Post
"For America Online Inc., one of the Washington area's Cinderella business stories, the splendid coach that had been carrying the company to the fantasy ball has been looking more and more like a pumpkin."
August 1996, $3.78
Ann Winblad partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
"I think it cost [AOL] the kind of cachet that you need to attract the consumer marketplace. Consumers want to be using the hot, cool thing. Technical problems do not equal hot, cool."
December 1996, $4.16
Andrew Kantor editor, Internet World
"General-interest online services like America Online are doomed."
January 1997, $4.63
Danny DeVito actor
"I'm not blaming AOL, but if I had a guy's aorta in one hand and a needle in the other, and a doctor in Sweden was telling me how to do a stick, and all of a sudden I got 'Your session has been interrupted,' I would be pissed off."
February 1997, $4.69
Mary Meeker then-analyst, Morgan Stanley
"AOL is a company with a split personality - it always does good stuff and bad stuff. The good news: Our instincts tell us that AOL is on the cusp of breaking out with a profitable business model (after years of building) and that the stock price (after a lapse or two) should continue its recent steady climb. The bad news: The numbers tell us we are wrong."
Monthly Stock Price (split-adjusted)
