AOL TV was the name of both a thin client which uses a television for display (rather than a monitor), and the online service that supports it, both of which were launched in June 2000 to compete with WebTV.
The product and service were developed by America Online. While most thin clients developed in the mid-1990s were positioned as diskless workstations for corporate intranets, AOL TV was positioned as a consumer device for web access. Since the device was a dedicated web browser appliance, the cost of licensing a proprietary operating system could be avoided. The cost of licensing a proprietary operating system is substantial for inexpensive devices.
The set top box for AOL TV was developed by NCI/Liberate using a thin client and manufactured by Philips.[1][2][3]
AOL TV discontinued sales in November 2002, although the service remained available to existing subscribers.[4] The service is no longer supported by AOL and the documentation has been removed from their servers.
References
- ^ Jennings, Roger (2009). Cloud Computing with the Windows Azure Platform. Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-470-50638-7. LCCN 2009933376.
- ^ "Liberate Technologies: Taking Strange to New Levels". Twilight in the Valley of the Nerds. September 17, 2009.
- ^ Girard, Kim (January 2, 2002). "Ellison resurrects network computer: Oracle's chief executive revives his dreams of replacing the PC by resurrecting the company that designs the scaled-down desktop systems and announcing plans to ship new models in the first quarter of next year". CNET. Los Angeles: CBS Interactive Inc.
- ^ Hu, Jim (February 18, 2003). "America Online confirms end of AOLTV: The Internet giant faces up to ho-hum consumer response and pulls the plug on sales of the product, giving up on its attempt to push interactive TV services". CNET. CBS Interactive Inc. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013.