So Original

It's 7:30 on a Saturday morning as I type this. I just got up a bit ago (~ 7:00) and, after the obligatory morning activity or two, I came in to check my e-mail. Like the dinosaur I can be, I'm still using AOL. (I have a Gmail account, for those to whom it shallowly matters, but I rarely use it.)

So, I go to AOL's homepage and this is what greets me. What?!


It being 7:15 in the morning, I do a double take and think, "Damn! I typed in Yahoo's site. This isn't AOL" But no. This is AOL. I go to bed. I get up. Bam! Makeover.

Then I go to Yahoo's homepage. This is what it looks like. And has looked like for, well, nigh unto half an eternity.


Could AOL be any less original? Oh sure, I get that it's an interface style to which users probably respond well. And yeah, AOL is probably losing market share to the likes of Yahoo and Facebook and MySpace, though I don't track that stuff (better things to do with my life and its limited time), but could you be anymore obvious and lacking in creativity?!

AOL, thy name is Microsoft.

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* * UPDATE * * UPDATE * * UPDATE * *

Oddly, AOL has gone back to its previous format. I just checked my email again and it looks like it has for months and months. Go figure. I wonder what I stumbled upon?


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