Who Wants to Dump AOL More: Time Warner or AOL Users?

"It may be $25 a month, but I need to use AOL's dial-up service to get remote access from other locations, like a convention in Las Vegas or at the Sundance Film Festival," said Falk. "Even when I'm on the road, I know I can get online. And my AOL address has been on my card for years now."

AOL services, both broadband and dial-up, also are attractive to families who want to control what their children watch online. Even though there are many non-AOL ways to provide parental controls, experts say AOL has such a good track record and so many easy-to-use features that it's worth paying a premium for.

"Families just feel more comfortable on AOL," said Dan Rayburn, editor of StreamingMedia.com, a Web site providing information for professionals who cater to the broadband crowd. "You can get software, install it on your computer and bypass AOL, but it's a hassle. AOL lets you do very detailed things, like check how long children were online for and block specific sites."

Bring Your Own Access, Just Don't Leave AOL

Ultimately, AOL hopes that even if users opt for a different broadband provider, they'll be willing to pay $9.95 a month in order to continue using AOL's many features under its "bring your own access" plan. The thought is that long-term AOL users will pay a small price to keep the online identity they spent years creating.

That is exactly why Sean Dougherty signed up for AOL's $9.95 plan, even though he had just bought broadband access through Optimum Online. For years, Dougherty has been using his AOL address for business purposes, while using AOL's easy-to-search news archives to find new leads.

But as time wore on, Dougherty started using other sites to get his news and stopped using AOL's community features entirely. "For the longest time, fear about changing my email address kept me on the service," he said. "But at this point, the only value AOL has for me over a short list of public Web sites is that its Reuters/AP search tool is a little better than using Google News. There is no personal or professional reason for me to stay on the service."

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