America Online

America Online is one of the big names on the internet, and unlike many other digital companies, it actually makes a profit. But the company which its rivals call the "Cyber-cockroach" was launched only in 1992. Before that it was a small firm called Control Video Corporation, and it made video games.

Then Steve Case, a former Pizza Hut marketing executive arrived and took the company online. Innovative, fast moving, and user-friendly, America Online appeals to people who want to surf the internet, but who do not have a lot of experience.

For the same reason "techies", people who think they are more expert with computers, look down on America Online and its users. Recently America Online (or AOL, as it calls itself) joined with Time Warner - a multi-million dollar movie and magazine company - to create a multimedia giant.

Now, AOL has begun to expand abroad. In many European countries, including the United Kingdom, it is hard to buy a computer magazine that does not have a free AOL introductory offer. The company also puts advertisements onto the television, and employs people to hand out its free introductory disks at places like train stations.

As the internet gets faster AOL is changing. With many homes getting high-speed connections through fibre optic cables or the new ASDL technology, the "Cyber-cockroach" will have to show that, like real cockroaches, it can survive in almost any environment