Last week, AOL announced it was a victim of its own success. Steve Case, AOL’ president, sent an unusual online message to customers explaining that because the number of people using the service has doubled since summer, AOL has to ration access during peak hours -generally 9 p.m. to midnight, Eastern time. Users will be let in on a “first come, first served” basis until AOL’s system is upgraded, probably within a month. Some analysts estimated that the system can serve only 8,000 people at a time, about half the capacity it needs.
AOL, based in Vienna, Va., has become one of the more successful commercial online services because it is particularly easy to use. Consumers click on pictures or “icons” and gain access to electronic shopping, discussion groups or online versions of magazines. Despite AOL’s popularity, complaints about the service have been popping up regularly in discussion groups on the Internet, the loosely organized global computer network. One user, who also subscribes to another service, recently complained that he dropped AOL the day he signed up because it took him 45 minutes to log on, a process that should normally take less than a minute. Others say they’ve spent days trying to get on without success. Case says he’s going to hold an online “town meeting” in a month to hear more feedback. Nice, if you can log on.
