A Trader-Vic3000 Auction

Vintage Rare “Super Hero” 1996, V3.0 AOL America Online
Windows 3½″ FLOPPY Disc, Factory Sealed!

Back in the waning days of the 20th Century and the early days of the 21st, America Online was the dominant Internet web portal and online service provider in the United States. Launched in 1983 as PlayNET, then Q-Link in 1985, and finally renamed America Online in 1989, AOL grew to become the largest online service, edging out older competitors such as CompuServe, Prodigy, GEnie, and The Source. One of the reasons for this was AOL’s innovative marketing technique. Promoting itself as the dial-up service for computer newbies (as opposed to CompuServe’s computer-savvy members), AOL performed incredible advertising outreach to the country at large. Beginning with 5½″ flexie discs(!) included with 1st-generation modems, progressing to loose 3½″ floppy discs, and finally shrink-wrapped floppies on colorful card stock (and, ultimately, superseded by CD-ROM disks in beautifully illustrated packaging), AOL distributed its installation software — along with offers of hundreds of free hours of user time — via unconventional outlets far beyond computer stores. At one point, 50% of all CDs manufactured were made for AOL.

This beautiful AOL floppy disc (part no. R03116) with a very early copyright date of 1996 is New and Factory Sealed in its colorful paper sleeve, which depicts a Clark Kent kinda guy tearing open his shirt to reveal the iconic, swirling “eye-in-the-pyramid” AOL logo as the emblem on his Superman-style outfit! It offered the user 50 FREE HOURS for joining! The floppy was never used and is in New condition. It was for Windows-only devices.

CAVEAT: Floppy discs — even if in new, unused condition — are subject to the ravages of time, cosmic rays, and local fluctuations of Earth’s magnetic field. This floppy has not been tested in a computer for which its operating system is compatible. This is being sold as a collectible and may or may not install functional software.

Did you and your loved one meet on AOL? One of our customers bought a disc as an anniversary gift because the copyright year of the disc matched the year that they met on AOL!

How about a Birthday? Wedding Anniversary? First year that you ______? (Fill in the blank.)

If you have fond memories of the AOL discs that you turned into drink coasters, mini-Frisbees, or skeet targets, or if you’re too young to know anything but streaming and downloads, you can own this pristine example of physical mass-advertising from a vanished era.

Postage: Computer discs qualify for USPS Media Mail rates. Yay! (I can’t send them 1st Class Letter rate because they are rigid.)

Dimensions of disc are:

[#21-22]

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