New AOL but No New Ideas: Today's Outrage

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- AOL is looking for a fresh start but seems to be short of new ideas as it prepares for the coming spin off from Time Warner (TWX) on Dec. 9.

It's a sign of how far AOL has fallen that after buying Time Warner for more than $100 billion in AOL stock in 2000, Time Warner is now divesting AOL at a ratio of 1 AOL share for every 11 Time Warner shares. That's 1/11th of the $38 billion market value for both companies today.

Already a shadow of its former self, it will be an even smaller AOL that tries to re-establish its lost footing in the Web world. Today we learned that AOL plans to cut a third of its staff, eliminating about 2,300 of its 6,900 employees to save $300 million.

Yet, amid all the market pessimism, I found an optimistic voice emerging on the Web today. David Callaway, the editor in chief of News Corp.'s (NWS) MarketWatch, wrote a column today entitled: AOL returns as Steve Case scores again.

Callaway sees a parallel between the potential for a second act by AOL and the recent post-Time Warner win for AOL Co-founder Steve Case, who sold his Revolution Money startup to American Express (AXP) for $300 million this week.

I appreciate the contrarian insight Callaway brings to his analysis and his nostalgic hope for a come-from-behind revival for this once-great Internet pioneer. But let's face it, AOL is no Apple (AAPL) and there's no cult-like visionary returning to save the company like Steve Jobs. I can't see Case coming back to AOL and I don't know what he could do even if he did.