AOL TV was the name of both a

thin client In computer networking, a thin client, sometimes called slim client or lean client, is a simple (low-Computer performance, performance) computer that has been Program optimization, optimized for Remote desktop, establishing a remote connectio ...

which uses a

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

for display (rather than a

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

), and the online service that supports it, both of which were launched in June 2000 to compete with WebTV. The product and service were developed by

America Online AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. The service tra ...

. While most

s developed in the mid-1990s were positioned as diskless workstations for corporate

intranet An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in ...

s, AOL TV was positioned as a consumer device for web access. Since the device was a dedicated web browser appliance, the cost of licensing a proprietary

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

could be avoided. The cost of licensing a proprietary operating system is substantial for inexpensive devices. The set top box for AOL TV was developed by NCI/Liberate using a

and manufactured by

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

. AOL TV discontinued sales in November 2002, although the service remained available to existing subscribers. The service is no longer supported by AOL and the documentation has been removed from their servers.

References

External links

The full soundtrack used by AOLTV (YouTube)
Interactive television Streaming television in the United States Telecommunications companies established in 2000 Internet properties established in 2000 Companies disestablished in 2002 AOL {{internet-tv-stub