AOL

Aol Inc.

A company that once handed out millions of free-trial CDs to get people online, AOL (originally America Online) began in 1985 as Quantum Computer Services, built by Steve Case and others out of a failed gaming venture. For decades it was the dial-up gateway to the internet for ordinary households, and today it lives on as a web portal and the free AOL Mail service. Fun fact: the voice behind its famous "You've got mail!" greeting was recorded by a customer-service rep's husband in his living room for two hundred dollars.