Date: 4/17/94 Start Time: 2:55:00 PM End Time: 5:03:56 PM Participants: Jennifer05, Steve Case and more than 750 guests. OnlineHost : Copyright 1994 America Online, Inc. All rights reserved. Center Stage is the largest gathering place on the service, bringing celebrity guests right into your home, and offering a host of entertainment events led by a team of talented emcees. It's capable of accommodating hundreds of guests and is truly the showplace of the service. Your attending Emcee is Jennifer05. Good afternoon! Welcome to the LIVE President's Roundtable with the president and CEO of America Online, Steve Case. Today's conference is part of the ongoing "town hall" discussion about the future of America Online. Online services are on the brink of moving into the mainstream. Instead of just connecting a few million people, they will soon touch the lives of tens of millions. But many, many challenges lie ahead with issues ranging from technical to cultural to content. It's an exciting new world as we travel the information superhighway into a fascinating future of technology! Steve joins you this afternoon to discuss America Online: Where have we been? Where are we going? You've brought your thoughts and ideas to him via the President's Roundtable, now you can bring your questions or comments directly to Steve. Jennifer05 : Welcome Steve! Steve Case : Thanks! And thanks to all of you for taking time out on this Sunday afternoon to stop in I hope you've been participating in the Roundtable discussion this week it has been quite a success...with nearly 10,000 messages posted in the past week the quality of the comments has been really quite extraordinary which proves the power of electronic communities. I have tried to answer some of the more common questions in a series of upodate letters bnut know I wasn't able to answer many, many questions so that's the purpose of this Roundtable. Everybody who attends will get a credit for the time they spend here... so thanks for coming, relax, and have fun! Now, on to the questions... Question : What plans, if any, are in store for the expansion or further development of the online game Neverwinter NightWhat plans or projects are in the works for the further expansion of the game Neverwinter Nights? A lot of AOL members are wondering if AOL is going to fully support Neverwinter. Steve Case : We have had a mized history with multi player games. We created some of the first graphical games in the mid-80s, in partnership with companies like Broderbund and Lucasfilm, but we stopped creating new games several years ago. The reason is because we thought at the time it would be better to focus on services with broader appeal, such as partnerships with magazines. But now that our subscriber base is larger, we are taking a fresh look at games. We don't have any plans to announce today but I think you can expect to see us more active. Question : What support do you plan to provide for 3rd party developers, such as my WAOL add-on called "Way To Go!" for WAOL? Will you provide open file file formats, open APIs, access through OLE 2.0 automation? Steve Case : Good question. So far, the bottleneck for AOL innovation has been us. If we can't get to it, it doesn't get done. We are planning to "open up" AOL and invite creative programmers, and content producers, to innovate on AOL. We have been working opn better documentation, and tools, to allow this. We also are looking at ways to create a support infrastructure. There are some tricky issues we have to deal with, given the complexity of our client/server archietcture, but we are working through them. So although we're not quite ready to support 3rd party developers, we are interested in encouraging creation of add-on software and we will do it as quickly as we can. Question : What's been happening to AOL (AMER) stock? Steve Case : Hmmm....not sure if I want to get into this. :) For those who aren't paying attention (which probably means most of you!) America Online is a publicly traded company and the stock price has fluctuated widely in recent months. It was about $60 at the end of Dec. then it dropped to 50 then it went as high as $90 based on rumors that we might be acquired (not true!) then it feel to 55 and now is around 62. We can't predict stock prices nobody can we'll continue to stay focused on providing the best array of services through the friendliest interface at the most affordable price with the greatest sense of community... and if we do that well, the company should prosper, and the stock should perform well over the long run. Question : Is this session with Steve Case charge or not? Steve Case : You will be credited for the time you spend in this live conference -- so it is free. Question : Is there any possibility of higher speed access? I have a 14400bps modem Steve Case : Absolutely. We were admittedly slow to roll out 9600 bps access it took longer than we'd like and we're still working with Sprint to provide sufficient 9600 access in key cities... the good news is that the reason it took so long was that we were rewriting the communications archiecture of our core system... the goal was to reengineer AOL to allow us to run at much higher speeds... without incurring much higher costs... that project was successful... so the host computer system is now ready to handle 14.4 access... Sprint is finalizing its 14.4 testing and as soon as they are ready, we'll be ready. We are expecting something on this front this year And we are working on higher speed access as well For example, if you are in one of the cities we are testing with cable adapters you may be able to connect to AOL at MUCH higher speeds... we're also planning to make AOL available to people with INternet connections. So we hope we'll lead the way in bringing bandwidth to consumers...affordably. Question : Any chance of teaming up with QVC or HSN for a shopping online area? Steve Case : We do think shopping will be more important in the future than it has been in the past especially as we move to a more multimedia oriented service with the addition of photos, for example so we are talking with a number of potential partners and you can expect to start seeing announcements soon. Question : When is the new Widows update going to be available and how will we be able to get it? Steve Case : The new Windows software will ship this summer. We plan to send it free to all active AOL members. (Same is true for Mac software, also due out this summer, by the way.) It has a number of enhancements to improve reliability...and also some new features such as on-screen photos. We'll release the full details when we release the software...this summer. Question : Why has AOL made such a harsh decision as to not support DOS users after v.2.0? Steve Case : We are working on a 2.0 compatible version of AOL and that should be ready soon probably in a month or so We do not have further GEOS-based development committed. The reason for this is that we thought it would be better to focus our development resources on Windows and Mac, as they are the rapidly growing segments of the market and our business. That said, we have been listening to the many comments made by our PCAOL: customers and as I indicated in a letter earlier this week we will take a new look at this when we complete the development projects we have already committed to So we'll just have to see. By the way, there are now 467 questions in the queue so I will move as fast as I can, but please be patient! Question : Steve. I am wondering if you could be able to set up a special forum called Multicultural/Language/Minorities where the various of ethnical groups can chat? I can't accept the idea of Deaf and Hard of Hearing to be placed in Disabilities.. Steve Case : This sounds like a good idea and I will look into it. I should say that there are far more things we'd like to do than we're able to do so that's why we're slow to react to some new ideas it's not that we don't think they are good ideas they invariable are but we can't dfo everything so we need to focus. But the forum you suggested sounds like a natural fit for us given the importance we place \ on creating electronic communities so I will look into it. Question : Any chance of making bigotry a TOS offense? After seeing all the hatred on the Kid Safe BB, I think it should be added to the no-no's! Steve Case : I was troubled by some of the discussion that occured in the Kid Safe folder... some people did get out of hand... luckily, the community was as it usually is self-policing and self-reinforcing so the behavior was stopped. But hurtful things were said. The whole issue of TOS is a slippery slope for us... on the one hand, we believe this new medium creates new ways to communicate and we should give these tools to people and let them do with them what they'd like in other words, we should air on the side of free expression... on the other hand, we feel an obligation to establish some guidelines, so that people feel welcomed by the AOL community, not intimidated. And we think an "anything goes" type environment will not enable us to achieve our dreams of bringing this medium to tens of millions of people and reaklly creating a new interactive, participatory medium. So that's we established TOS, to have some community guidelines. It is clear from the various discussions that we need to take a fresh look at the guidelines themselves... but also focus on making sure the enforcement of the guidelines is as consistent as possible. It's one of those no-win situations... we just try to do our best. Question : In previous letter you have said that AOL is dedicated to to access from PDAs like Newton & Zoomer. A Zoomer client has been released and Motorola Envoy access announced, but what about the Newton. Will it ever have a client? If so, when? Steve Case : We do plan to have a Newton client but we don't have a specific date now. Question : Steve, what are AOL plans for more local levels of connectivity like the Chicago area? Steve Case : Not sure what you 're referring to but let me take a stab at this We think a natural companion to our national AOL strategy is a local approach creating local communities in partnership with newspapers we are now doing this in Chicago with the Tribune and in the Bay area with San Jose Mercury News and soon we'll be launching New York Times. You can expect to see us add additional local editions over time. Question : Whats in the works for AOL??? Steve Case : Lots...don't know where to start! I'd suggest reading the update letters I posted in the Roundtable area... buty veryquickly.. we're looking at higher speed access we're expanding our INternet services we're finsihing up development on new software for Windows and Mac and we're adding a wealth of new content. Question : Does AOL plan to offer any rates higher than 9600? Steve Case : Yes, as said earlier. 14.4 will be coming next cable testing is happening as is Internet direct connections via TCP/IP. Question : OnStage2...do you think Steve read all his mail today? Steve Case : Unfortunately, I do not read all my mail any more. I used to, up until a year or so ago. Then I realized that I just couldn't keep up. I now get hundreds of e-mails each day... last time I calculated I estimated I was getting 100,000 per year! So the volume is just unbelievable. I do read a cross section of it just to get a sense of how people are thinking. ANy I have an assistant who reads every single message and either responds for me or passes it on to the right person at AOL to respon or passes it on to me if she thinks that would be appropriate. So I am listening, but unfortunately not able to read every single email. Question : When is the new AOL software coming out? Steve Case : GEOS 2.0 compatible version should ship in a month or so, depending on how final testing goes. That's available for downloading in the Geoworks area now, I believe, if you want to participate in the beta test. The new Windows and Mac disks are expected to ship this summer. Question : As a current member of AOL, Prodigy, Compuserve, and the WELL, what new features are on the horizon for AOL that will keep me here, and leave Prodigy and Compuserve? ie. company news, GIF viewer built in, ability to read offline, etc Thanks Steve Case : I touched on some aspects earlier... but yes, we're expanding news and yes, we'll have a photo viewer built in (faster than GIF) and yes we are planning to automate more tasks we do realize that people want to be able to personalize AOL, and automate common tasks, like checking mail, browsing boards, etc. Those are all planned features. Question : It seems that AOL solves individual problems as they come up but has no overall process to insure quality - sort of like the US car companies 15 years ago. Do have a plan to make "Quality Job 1" for AOL employees? Steve Case : We have had a number of quality problems... especially when we had system capacity limits a couple months ago We do feel bad about this and we have a number of efforts underway to establish AOL as the quality LEADER in the online market. We won't get their overnight, but we will be getting there as fast as we can. We have increased system capacity by more than 50% over the past two months so you should be finding it easier to get on and we are finetuning things to maximize speed and we have installed a terrific problem-tracking system and we've already begun to take steps to reduce the frequency and duration of maintenance periods... but there's still much to be done. But yes, we are committed. Question : Any plans to raise monthyl fees? Steve Case : No. Question : How soon will we see FTP and Telnet? And 14.4k service Steve Case : I hate to predict specific dates... because I am often wrong and then you'll all yell at me... But I think it's likely you'll see all 3 of these features by the end of this year. Question : It was nice meeting you in person last fall at the Hard Rock Cafe party in DC! Will AOL be repeating their regional parties again this year? Also, are there plans for AOL to offer any services to users of the Internet NOT from AOL such as an AOL Gopher? Steve Case : We had a terrific time on the Hard Rock tour last fall.. we visited about 10 cities, as I recall... and I had a chance to meet thousands of AOL members. We don't have any plans committed at this point but I think it's likely that we'll do something again. We don't want AOL to be just another online service... we want it to be a community... so reaching out, meeting people, exchanging ideas, etc. are key. As for Internet... we think Internet represents a big opportunity for us... everyone's talking about it... we want to help make it a reality for millions of people. Our plans in the Internet area are broad... we do expect to do more things to link AOL and the Internet... including allowing AOL members to access AOL via Internet connections... and allowing people using AOL to access more INternet features such as ftp,telnet... and allowing people using Internet to access some AOL services. Internet is a big priority for us. Question : hello Steve, do you think AOL will provide the software for interactive TV in the future? Steve Case : We expect AOL to be a player in the interactive TV area we are doing some work in that area now... but our sense is that it will take longer for that market to develop than some hope... so our near-term focus will continue to be on PCs... we think there are some interesting hybrid opportunities... leveraging the power of PCs... for example, connecting services like AOL to CD-ROMs to create "virtual broadband" and connecting high-bandwidth cable lines into your PC so you can get a much more multimedia oriented AOL. So there's lots going on there! Question : When will the AOL system totally to converted to 9600 baud? Steve Case : We gating item there is network access capacity... we now support all Sprint 9600 access numbers... and they are expanding at existing numbers to add more modems (so you won't get busies) and they are adding some new 9600 sites... we're also working with BT/Tymnet and hope to provide 9600 access via Tymnet later this year... so we are making progress on this front. Question : When did AOL Start? Steve Case : The company was founded in 1985... initially we offered a service for COmmodore 64 owners called Q-Link and then we branched out with a service called AppleLink Personal edition for APple II and then PC-Link for Tandy/Deskmate and then Promenade for IBM PS/1 computers. We launched the America Online service in late 1989 for Apple II and Mac....DOS came later... and Windows was launched in Jan. 1993. So we've been around for awhile but the AOL brand is somewhat of a newcomer in comparison on Compuserve and Prodigy... we've been growing faster than any other service a year ago, we had about 250,000 subscribers... now it's nearly 3 times that! And people are more active, using more time, because there are more services... so we're now handling 12 million sessions per month. That's a 5-fold increase versus last year. So the growth has been phenomenal... unfortunately, it has created some quality problems... that we've been focused on in recent months... and we appreciate your patience during this difficult period. Question : When Are we going to be getting FTP and Telnet access on the Internet Center and what about 14400 baud access numbers. Steve Case : I covered these earlier... don't have specific dates to announce now... but think there's a good chance you'll see all of these features this year. Question : The audio/video Macs that were introducted early this year was a breakthrough in Apple history. My question is, what are you guys going to invent next (any clues) or are you going to take over the IBM's. I am a long time Mac supporter since 86. Steve Case : Not certain what you mean... but I'll try to respond as best I can. As an industry we've made good progress over the past decade in making online services more accessible and more affordable and more useful and more fun... but there's still a long way to go... only 4% of households subcriber to ANY online service... What will be required to move it into the mainstream of AMerica? Many things, we think. Just as computer interfaces shifted from charcter-oriented to graphical (GUI) in the 80s, we think they'll shift again in the 90s to more of a Mutlimedia User Interface (MUI) as well as an Intelligent User INterface (IUI) (gotta love that jargon, eh!) We hope to play an important role in both areas... Multimedia will come first...\ basically that's about creating a much more engaging experience by leveraging mpre powerful PCs and CD_ROM drives and more communciations bandwidth. On the Intelligent User Interface front, that pushes you in the direction of agents and personalization... having the service bring things to you, as opposed to you going to it. There are many other important directions but I'll stop there in the interest of time. Question : Would it be accurate to say that AOL has been agressively marketing WAOL, but making no similar effort to market PCAO? Is this fair to your PCAO users who've shown great patience with less than stellar AOL performance? It is fair drop development of PCAO beyond the port to 2.0 from 1.5? Steve Case : I think that is somewhat accurate, but not totally. When we introduced Windows, we didn't know how the market would react....\ i.e. what the relative demand would be for DOS and Windows... so all of the early ads offered both... and in many cases where we were bundling software (with magazines or modems for example) we'd test both approaches. What we found was a very very strong preference for Windows...so recently it is true that we have focused more on that side of the market. But our general interest ads (not run in a specific computer magazine) still offer the DOS version. We can' We can't drive markets...we just try to serve them. Question : Will you be stopping the daily down time for maintenance. Steve Case : We won't be stopping it altogether' but as I mentioned we will be having less frequent down periods and we will be doing them at earlier hours so they should impact fewer people. Question : What additional provisions can we expect as stockholders of AOL for info online(Press releaseses help...but would like more) .Any comments on the stock in general? Steve Case : I commented on the stock earlier...as best I could... not sure what else you're looking for in the way of info online... the keyword PRESS we have set up includes the press releases we issue... we post them there at the same time we release them to the public. Question : Does a 9600 modem really help? Steve Case : Yes, it does help, because you can get everything faster. That said, the majority of AOL members are using 2400... and all the computers being shipped by the major manufacturters such as IBM and Compaq and APple still include 2400 modems... so if you have 2400, you're in the majority, and shouldn't feel alone! Question : Why are people having such a hard time getting into Member Profiles and other important areas? AOL is great.....just would like to see same quality uniform throughout! Steve Case : As would I! We recently installed a new member profile search system designed to speed up access to that popular function so you should already be seeing some improvement there... we're also expanding the capabilities of the member directory so you'll be able to find people who share your interests more easily. Question : How about making the President's Roudtable a permanent thing?? Steve Case : I don't think that's a good idea... the reason is that the Roundtable doesn't really work unless I can commit the time to read the messages and respond otherwise, people get mad because they think ideas are falling into a black hole And taking the time to read 10,000 messages is something I can't do every week! :) I was traveling this week... was in DC, then L.A., then S.F., then back to D.C., and every time I plugged my notebook computer into the hotel phone jack and checked into the Roundtable I nearly died... the volume was so huge... So I will continue to do this, but can't do it all the time. But there are other places on the system such as Members Helping Members (keyword is MHM) that has similar discussions going. And it's a free area! Question : any plans for a new pricing plan in the future.? Steve Case : We have no plans to change pricing. Specifically, we think the approach we have now == $9.95 for 5 hours of use == works well. So you don't have to worry about the monthly fee going up or the hourly fee going up. That said, I do know there's considerable interest among our most active c ustomers in some sort of "heavy user" type pricing...and I have indicated this is something we are looking into. Question : In the future, will you be dividing up the areas restricting entry to adults only?? Steve Case : We are wrestling with this issue... we want to make AOL a place everyone can feel comfortable in... including kids... that's why we've added features such as Parental Controls, so you can block access to People Connection for sub accounts... but we've always been leery of creating an adults area because we don't want AOL to be tagged as being an adults service. But my sense is that the approach we're currently taking could use a fresh review, so that's what we'll do. Question : How about a comment on the state of Tech Support, which was much decried in the roundtable folders? e.g. rudeness, "canned answers", always blame anything but AOL . . . Steve Case : We' ve added dozens of additional tech support people, and improved the training, and installed a problem-tracking system so we can quickly identify problem areas...and we can do a better job of giving you the right answer quickly and consistently... this is an area that has been particularly hard hit by the surge in subscribers...so it's hard to keep up... I think they are doing a good job... but like many areas, could be doing better... and you will continue to see progress in this area. Question : Do you plan do have flat rate billing ? Ever ? Steve Case : Highly unlikely. The reason for this is that to offer unlimited use, we'd have to charge a fairly high monthly fee, and that would price AOL out of the range of many people. We think a low monthly fee including a certain amount of usage is a better approach. Question : When will pictures be available? What software and hardware is needed for pixs? Steve Case : New Windows and Mac software supporting photos should ship this summer. Not sure of specific configuration requirements, sorry! But should work on most systems. Question : When can we use AOL internationally, in Europe and the Middle East for instance....? Steve Case : We do believe a global strategy is the right strategy so we are contemplating creating companion services to AOL... in other countries, such as Europe and Asia... They would likely take the form of separate companies, with a separately named service... as we don't think "America ONline" would pl;ay to well in most foreign countries... and don't want the Euro-Disney sort of cultural backlash!... but the services would all tie back together. That said, we have no specific agreements in place now or even a timeframe. It may take awhile...we think the principal focus should be on and is on improving the quality of AOL and expanding the array of services and adding new features... so that we can make AOL the #1 service in this country. Question : Steve: We need more local access numbers! I still don't have one! Steve Case : This is a problem... with unfortunately no easy solution. As you probably know, we don't operate the data networks ourselves... we partner with Sprintnet and BT/Tymnet.... they have local access numbers in about 90% of the U.S. but that means 10% are, like you, left out. There problem is justifying the installation of a local access site... generally they only do this if the volume they'll likely generate, particularly during the day from business customers, is high enough to warrant it. They do add new numbers from time to time, but not all that frequently. Sorry I couldn't give you a better answer! Question : A friend told me there was an article in the Wall Street Journal indicating AOL wasn't doing well financially. Is this true or was it some other online service the article spoke of? Steve Case : There have been lots of articles written about AOL recently... I don't recall a Wall Street Journal article indicating that we weren't doing well but perhaps there was one. Our focus has been on building our membership... and adding new services... we are profitable, and have been profitable for several years, but we're not out to maximize profits in the short run... we're out to attract millions of subscribers, and if we do that we think our stockholders will do well in the long run. Profits are increasing... and we think it is important that stockholders see that sort of financial progress... but our eye is focused more on the long run. Question : Any future in offline mail/newsgroup readers? Steve Case : Yes, they are coming. Question : Are you going to have fantasy sports leagues on America Online Steve Case : I believe we already have some. Check the SPORTS area. If i'm wrong and we don't have them...we should! Question : What enhancements are expected to be made to the next major version of the WAOL client? (not the one this Summer, ver. 2.0) Will we see offline mail? Will it include some of the good features found in add-ons? Steve Case : I don't want to get into specifics right now... in general we are trying to back off a bit on preannouncements of specific features for specific dates... but certainly it's reasonable to expect the enhancements in the next full-blown release to include things like offline mail. Question : What plans does AOL have for providing OFFLINE message and e-mail handling? Steve Case : We currently provide this for Mac customers... and as I just said it will be coming for Windows customers. Over time, we'd like to get our various versions more in sync... now, Mac has some things that Windows lacks, and vice versa... so it can be confusing. Question : There has been interest in a bulk time option for those using more time, due to the higher cost of additionaltime; any thoughts on that ? Steve Case : As stated earlier, it is something we're considering, but have no plans right now. Now more than 1000 questions in the queue... sorry if I don't get to yours. We'll continue for another half hour... then I need to put my fingers in a warm bath! :) Question : You have fixed many of the performance issue caused by the inability of AOL to scale easily. But have you fixed its ability to scale as new members are added again? Steve Case : Yes, we believe so. And we are still adding members at a fairly rapid clip. We have indicated that we expect to pass the 1 million subscriber mark by this fall. And we believe we (and our network partners) will be ready this time! Question : I recently heard from someone on the learning and refernece staff that new reference materials were being considered for additon. Could you please discuss this? Steve Case : We are planning to enhance our content in a number of key areas... right now, I think we're lacking in some critical areas... for example, personal finance... so we recently established a businss unit dedicated to investor type services to beef that area up... and we have been rather weak in news...so we recently added Reuters... and we also have plans to expand the reference services on AOL, as you suggested. We want AOL to be: - the best value - the best interface - the best content (breadth AND depth) - the best community Right now, we know some of our members use other services because they find our services insufficient and we're working to make that less of an issue for you. Question : Steve, Does AOL have any plans now..to couple with Software vendors to offer Product support on AOL. The Microsoft Knowledge Base here hasn't been updated in quite awhile? Steve Case : We are now working with a large number of companies I believe it's now over 300 to provide online support of their products. I don't know why the Microsoft Knowledge Base hasn't been updated recently...I will check into that...but we do know Microsoft is working on their own service so I suspect they won't be our best partner down the road! :) Question : First, I'd like to compliment you on the greatly improved 9600 access. Signing on, even at peak hours, is no longer the nightmare it was in the recent past. However, screen freeze during peak hours remains a significant problem, as does punting. Steve Case : We are doing a fair amount of tracking these days to really get a good sense of what the quality is like in the eyes of our customers for example, we have teams that dial into access nodes around the country and time how long it takes to get connected and to then execute a series of requests... such as checking e-mail, stock quotes, etc. We're also getting better info from our network partners such as Sprint. This data suggests thinks are a lot better than they used to be for the vast majority of our customers...but but but there are still problems, esp. in specific cities and we are working on them. The problem you mentioned -- getting punted -- generally related to congestion in the backbone of the data network... we are working with them to fix this... so hopefully you'll be seeing a better quality AOL in your city soon. Question : Will America Online participate in the cable medium where TV is concerned any time in the not too distant future? Steve Case : Yes, we want to make AOL available through a wide array of access devices not just PCs, but also PDAs and TVs and screenphones and also through a wide array of conduits not just telephone but also cable and wireless. We are doing some cable technology pilots right now with Intel and General Instruments and Viacom and Comcast to test connecting PCs to cables... and we do expect smart set top boxes to eventually find their way to many TVs and AOL will be there. (we hope!) Question : On a couple other services, I've been able to play real time, fully interactive, virtual reality games. Are there any plans for such games in store for AOL ? Steve Case : We have a few games now that were developed a few years ago, for DOS, including Casino and Neverwinter Nights... and as I mentioned earlier we do expect to get back into game development over the next year or so. So nothing now, but it is back on our radar screen. Question : Is it possible we may get a better rate on the on-line charge for time over 5 hours? Steve Case : We are going to look into the feasibility of offering a heavy user plan... but have nothing in mind at this point. Question : Do you have any plans for special rates for educators? Steve Case : We have entered into an alliance with Scholastic to create the Scholastic Network... and also recently launched services with the NEA and AFT. Each of them is priced a bit differently, by those organizations. Question : Downhere at the Help Desk in the basement , one of the most frequent problems are files which are zipped with PKZ204, which the AOL software(s) don't support so far as auto-unzip. Is that being considered for the future? Steve Case : I don't know but will look into it. Question : What are the expansion plans for the Internet center? Can America On-Line members expect full Internet access through AOL? When? Will will be able to use the Windows AOL interface to do this? Steve Case : Yes, you can expect full access. As we indicated when we announced the INternet Center last fall, we would do this in stages we now have e-mail, which by the way is extremely populatr we now handle more than 5 million e-mails per month on our Internet gateway... at the end of Feb. we unveiled newsgroup discussions, and they are already very popular and we're in a preview mode with WAIS and Gopher databases. So we're albout half way there... additional features are under development now. Question : Since Prodigy has realtime photo support.. I would like to hear what AOL has in store to meet this challenge and go beyond it.. And what of rumors that the architecture of AOL does not lend itself to multimedia capablities? Steve Case : We will be launching realtime photo support for both Windows and Mac this summer. I believe Prodigy has it now for Windows but not Mac. As for rumors about our architecture not being suited for multimedia, that's ridiculous. I think people will be quite surprised to see what we have in store. : We have a flexible client/server architecture that enables us to plug in servers that are optimized for specific tasks... the Internet services run on HP workstations running UNIX, for example... since that's the best platform for Internet... we believe we will continue to play a role in shaping this new medium... we think our technology platform is well suited to meet all the needs we can envision. Question : Could we "buy" software application through AOL?? Steve Case : We are looking into electronic distribution of software and believe we can play a useful role there but we don't have that ready now. Question : how about an offline mail reader. Steve Case : Now available for Mac, and coming for Windows. Question : When will graphical displays be available on AOL. For instance, the ability to pull up a weather map while online as opposed to downloading the photo and then viewing it? Steve Case : This summer. Question : What are the plans for future news services that will provide a daily "news-e-mail" customized to report only the type of stories in which I am interested Steve Case : We are working on some personalized news services. Don't have a specific launch date, though. Question : In Disney Adventures, there is a place called the Odeon. When is that going to be open? Steve Case : Don't know, but I will check. Question : Can America Online actually enter the Internet network Now? 4/17 Steve Case : Not sure what this questions refers to, sorry. Yes you can use Internet services now use keyword INTERNET CENTER to try them out. You can read messages -- and also post messages -- to more than 10,000 discussions. Question : What is planned for the future in regards to the Terms of Service, and proper enforcement.. (TOSAdvisor, Guides, etc)? Steve Case : We are reviewing the guidelines and enforcement procedures to make sure we're doing the right thing and doing it right. Question : Can you predict a date range for advanced support of General Magic's _Magic Cap_ service? Steve Case : For those that don't know what this question is referring to we have announced that we will support a new operating system called Magic Cap and we are working with companies such as Motorola and Sony on this... AOL will be built into the Motorola device when it ships... it's not for me to announce the shipment plans for our partners... but I think it's reasonable to expect it this year. Question : Do you plan to offer Bulk rate purchace plans in the near future??? Steve Case : We are considering this but have no plans in place. Question : AOL is becoming a standard in classrooms. Any chance on a program to market directly to the schools? Steve Case : We don't have any plans to go direct at this point as we have a terrific partnership with Scholastic and they are strong in the classroom market. Question : Steve, great service! One missing feature that I've been looking for is scriptability for AOL. Basically, I could set AOL to download all of my mail, and mostings from certain areas - kindof like an off-line reader, except more sophisticated. Steve Case : I agree - many of us would like more automation and we do intend to provide it. Question : Do you have a corporate prospectus your could mail individuals who are interested in AOL stock? Steve Case : Yes, you can request it... send e-mail KETaylor. Question : How many people work with AOL? Steve Case : We have about 400 employees here in our offices... but hundreds more providing support from other locations (guides, forum leaders, etc.) We've doubled our staff over the past year, to try to keep up with the demand. Well I better run now... thanks to all of you for coming to this event... we appreciate your interest in making AOL better... thanks also to all those that posted comments in the Roundtable... although that board is being removed, I want to assure you that we are taking the feedback very seriously... the postings are being directed to the proper people here at AOL so you can count on us to follow up on as many of the suggestions as we possibly can. Jennifer05 : Thank you Steve, for answering our questions today! OnlineHost : Thanks to Steve Case, president and CEO of America Online, for a look into the service, where it's been and where it's headed. If you missed any part of this informative conference, be sure to use keyword: "CENTER STAGE" to download a complete transcript, edited for ease of reading. That transcript will be available in a few days. Thanks and good afternoon. Copyright 1994 America Online, Inc. All rights reserved.