ine incorporated under its original founding name, Quantum Computer Services, in May of 1985. After its first online service, "Q-Link" was launched on Commodore business machines, AOL went on to launch America Online for DOS, Macintosh, Apple II, and Windows. Over the next decade, it went on to acquire many Internet-related companies, from developers of Internet applications to Internet publishers. AOL also launched its services in Australia, Japan, the UK, and many other countries across the world. By March of 2000, America Onlines membership surpassed 22 million. America Onlines most recent business strategy, "AOL Anywhere," is to make AOL's industry-leading brands, services, and features available to consumers across a range of products and devices. Through its services, millions of consumers will be able to access popular AOL features whenever and wherever they need them: from the Web, the television, Internet-ready phones, handheld computers, and others personal wireless devices. However, America Onlines position in the industry is felt mainly through its presence on the Internet. This medium for AOL is growing exponentially. As of 1999, there were over 150 million subscribers. Thousands of businesses have moved online, and the information technology industry alone represents more than one-third of the real economic growth in the US over the last five years. In terms of size, AOL is the world's leading interactive service. It has over 22 million members worldwide, 1.2 million peak simultaneous users, 110 million e-mails daily, 200 million stock quotes daily, 5.2 billion Web URLs served daily, and 63 minutes online per member daily. (www.corp.aol.com) It has become the world's first $4.7 billion multi-brand new media company.Despite being part of the rapidly changing Internet movement, America Online is not a typical Internet based organization. Because of their sheer size, 12,100 employees, AOL is a highly bureaucratic firm. ...
