Editing AOL (section)

=== 1983–1991: early years ===
AOL began in 1983, as a short-lived venture called '''Control Video Corporation''' ('''CVC'''), founded by [[William von Meister]]. Its sole product was an online service called [[GameLine]] for the [[Atari 2600]] video game console, after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by [[Warner Bros.]]<ref name="Klein2003">{{Cite book |last=Klein |first=Alec |url=https://archive.org/details/stealingtimestev00klei |title=Stealing Time: Davin, Quinton, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7432-5984-2 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref> Subscribers bought a [[modem]] from the company for $49.95 and paid a one-time $15 setup fee. GameLine permitted subscribers to temporarily download games and keep track of high scores, at a cost of $1 per game.<ref name="history">{{Cite news |last=David Lumb |date=May 12, 2015 |title=A Brief History of AOL |url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3046194/a-brief-history-of-aol |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923113645/https://www.fastcompany.com/3046194/a-brief-history-of-aol |archive-date=September 23, 2017 |access-date=May 12, 2015 |work=Fast Company}}</ref> The telephone disconnected and the downloaded game would remain in GameLine's Master Module, playable until the user turned off the console or downloaded another game.

In January 1983, [[Steve Case]] was hired as a marketing consultant for Control Video on the recommendation of his brother, investment banker Dan Case. In May 1983, [[Jim Kimsey]] became a manufacturing consultant for Control Video, which was near bankruptcy. Kimsey was brought in by his West Point friend [[Frank Caufield]], an investor in the company.<ref name="Klein2003" /> In early 1985, von Meister left the company.<ref name="Warner">{{Cite book |last=Charles Warner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAyvNo881tcC |title=Media Selling: Television, Print, Internet, Radio |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4443-5927-5}}</ref>

On May 24, 1985, '''Quantum Computer Services''', an online services company, was founded by Kimsey from the remnants of Control Video, with Kimsey as [[chief executive officer]] and [[Marc Seriff]] as [[chief technology officer]]. The technical team consisted of Seriff, Tom Ralston, Ray Heinrich, Steve Trus, Ken Huntsman, Janet Hunter, Dave Brown, Craig Dykstra, Doug Coward, and Mike Ficco. In 1987, Case was promoted again to executive vice-president. Kimsey soon began to groom Case to take over the role of CEO, which he did when Kimsey retired in 1991.<ref name="Warner" />

Kimsey changed the company's strategy, and in 1985, launched a dedicated online service for [[Commodore 64]] and [[Commodore 128|128]] computers, originally called [[Quantum Link]] ("Q-Link" for short).<ref name="history" /> The Quantum Link software was based on software licensed from [[PlayNET|PlayNet, Inc]]., which was founded in 1983 by Howard Goldberg and Dave Panzl. The service was different from other online services as it used the computing power of the Commodore 64 and the [[Apple II]] rather than just a "dumb" terminal. It passed tokens back and forth and provided a fixed-price service tailored for home users. In May 1988, Quantum and [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] launched [[AppleLink]] Personal Edition for Apple II<ref>{{Triangulation|201|Peter Friedman}}</ref> and [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] computers. In August 1988, Quantum launched PC Link, a service for [[IBM]]-compatible [[IBM PC–compatible|PCs]] developed in a joint venture with the [[Tandy Corporation]]. After the company parted ways with Apple in October 1989, Quantum changed the service's name to America Online.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 20, 2006 |title=Industrial Era (1985–1990) |url=http://www.thocp.net/timeline/1989.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103111647/http://www.thocp.net/timeline/1989.htm |archive-date=November 3, 2005 |access-date=September 24, 2005 |website=The History of Computing Project}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Weyhrich |first=Steven |date=December 31, 2002 |title=Telecommunications |url=http://apple2history.org/history/ah22.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050828233812/http://apple2history.org/history/ah22.html |archive-date=August 28, 2005 |access-date=September 24, 2005 |website=Apple II History}}</ref> Case promoted and sold AOL as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers, in contrast to [[CompuServe]], which was well established in the technical community.<ref name="Warner" />

From the beginning, AOL included [[online game]]s in its mix of products; many classic and casual games were included in the original PlayNet software system. The company introduced many innovative online interactive titles and games, including:
* Graphical chat environments [[Habitat (video game)|''Habitat'']] (1986–1988) from [[LucasArts]].
* The first online interactive fiction series [[QuantumLink Serial]] by [[Tracy Reed (writer)|Tracy Reed]] (1988).
* ''[[Stormfront Studios|Quantum Space]]'', the first fully automated [[play-by-mail game]] (1989–1991).