AOL Passes CompuServe

1995

A 1996 spinning globe GIF, the iconography of the dial up internet that AOL was selling to five million subscribers by the end of 1995. Place: Vienna, Virginia (AOL) and Columbus, Ohio (CompuServe) Figures: Steve Case, AOL CEO · H&R Block, CompuServe's parent company through 1998 · the millions of new AOL subscribers who never knew CompuServe invented the format Through the early 1990s, CompuServe is the dominant online service for technical users; AOL is the dominant service for everyone else. In 1994 they are roughly even at three million subscribers each. By the end of 1995, AOL has crossed five million and is growing faster than CompuServe can respond. The mass-market consumer modem demographic that AOL captures is the same demographic that, by 1996, is using Mosaic and Navigator on dial-up (see [[mosaic-1993]]) to view GIF-heavy web pages. The format CompuServe invented in 1987 is, by 1995, being used most heavily by AOL's much larger and faster-growing subscriber base. AOL ships its own software with built-in GIF support. The format's primary audience has, without fanfare, switched providers. Video: 1995 broadcast segment comparing the two dial-up services in the year AOL's subscriber count overtook CompuServe's.