RIP AOL?

I'm mourning the impending doom and destruction at AOL. I still have fond memories of the ear-piercing squeals my modem made as I attached to the network in the early days of the Net.

It's not looking good, folks.

According to a Wall Street Journal report on August 5, the parent company (Time Warner) is ready to split the enterprise into two entities. One will be an Internet service provider, one will be more about content and advertising. At that point, according to the report, Time Warner may decide to sell.

They have lost revenue and Google is regretting their investment, and Microsoft or Yahoo may buy them for a wing and a prayer, according to a post at Ars Technica.

For anyone following the saga, including those who a) picked up a free AOL CD at Wal-Mart or b) actually used the service recently, it looks like AOL is in survival mode. Yet, as with the other immediately recognizable names in the tech industry (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft), there is still life left in the brand and the services they offer. If you say "AOL" to just about anyone who uses a computer, they at least know what it is.

Here are some ideas for continuing life support.

1. Drop the dial-up service. I'm sure it's still generating revenue, but it's not worth the perception it generates among more savvy Internet users. AOL could be synonymous with Google and Yahoo if they became a technology innovator, but the dial-up service - which is still widely available, and the free sign-up CDs are still in Wal-Mart stores - is holding them back. And, if it's still a dedication to those in rural areas without broadband, there is satellite service, fixed wireless, and a host of other options.

2. Find funding. According to Rob Enderle, a consultant with Enderle Group, AOL needs a steady cash flow. "AOL was always about providing safety and ease of use," he says. "They got lost trying to be Yahoo and even Yahoo is having trouble being Yahoo. AOL needs to figure out who its customers are, find out what they want, and then provide that. Right now they don't really have much of an identity."

3. Create something amazing! A few years ago, the hype was all about AOL TV, a service that lets you tap into video feeds and control your television as though it was the Internet. It stalled out, never caught on, sort of bit the dust - but at least it was new and something the company could promote. One idea for innovating: AOL connected the first Internet adopters, so their brand could be re-fashioned as cutting edge. For example, how about solving the issue of how one site connects to another? This is a barren waste-land, where cross-site scripting techniques come under attack by hackers and FaceBook apps live on an island. Figure out that "in-between" space on the Internet, and capitalize on it. (I know OpenSocial is a step in the right direction, but it's only for widgets and seems to have Googles' paws all over it.)

4. Don't copy, innovate. AOL is in "me-too" mode right now. They just launched a service called Buddy Updates (buddyupdates.aim.com), which is exactly like Twitter. They had an online file storage system called Xdrive, which they are about to close because no one was using it, according to TechCrunch. Okay, so no one is using the me-too services - drop them all and never copy anyone ever again.

5. Go for broke on R&D. This is the strategy that saved Apple. AOL needs to circle the wagons and start hiring a bunch of freshly minted Stanford grads who can do experimental research. I am not saying they should even release any of these projects - don't do an AOL Labs, that's just another "me-too" strategy. But regain the trust of the tech insiders and experts who know you are cooking up something special.

6. Don't sell. Oh, maybe split up, but I think the AOL brand can rebound if it becomes a prime destination again. drop the dial-up, but make somehting like "AOLfast" that runs at, oh, let's say 100 meg. Figure out some compression techniques, build a network, hook up with Verizon -- whatever it is, do it now. On the content side, don't just own blog sites -- own blogging. Make people want to come to AOL.com to find the best news and reports.