AOL Radio for MacOS X!

I have had the same AOL account for something like 12 years. I was working at Walker & Associates when I got my first computer, a Macintosh Classic. That was something like 1991. (If memory serves, I graduated from the Memphis College of Art in 1989 and it took me about a year before I was hired at Walker & Associates... My how time flies...)

With my trusty little 800 baud modem, I tested almost all of the online services of the day: CompuServe, GEnie, AOL, Prodigy. All of them sucked on the Macintosh except for AOL. The interface was very Mac-like, and had a treasure trove of software downloads and other services such as chat that really made the computer useful in a new way. 

I was disappointed at the time that my default username was whastings. I thought, how boring. But it was my first initial with my last name, and at least I didn't have a string of random numbers after it. And whastings has remained my primary IM identity while my Internet connection was upgraded over time from AOL dialup to a local ISP dialup, to cable modem broadband from TimeWarner RoadRunner but which is now ComCast in the Memphis area. 

In an effort to economize as much as I could, I let my AOL subscription lapse earlier this year. This wasn't easy for me, even though I was using broadband at home and at work -- my sentimental attachment had me paying something like $9.95 per month for their bring-your-own-connection plan. I held onto my screenname for use with AIM though I missed being able to use AOL Radio, their co-branded XM broadcast.

Then this morning, I listened to David Pogue's podcast and was reminded that AOL had gone free, as in beer! So I fired up my AOL client and was astounded. It had happened, and I can't be happier. Connect my Mac to the home stereo system, and I can have XM radio in my apartment without the extra monthly subscription or XM hardware!

Check out David Pogue's article on the NYT site >>

AOL also offers other Mac-specific software besides AOL Radio >>