AOL: A dog in 2001 becomes a dog with friends in 2009

Another chapter is about to be written in life of AOL, the once might gatekeeper of Internet access in the United States. The AOL unit of Time Warner posted some remarkably weak quarterly figures this week, with revenue dropping 23 percent and operating income sinking by 50 percent.

"AOL is currently weighing some additional restructuring plans, but pending those steps, it will be challenging to materially reduce its fixed cost base much further," said Time Warner CFO John Martin. Translation: I wish I could have dumped AOL long ago, but we have to stick it out just a few months more.

The dumping of AOL has been a long time coming for the millions of shareholders who watched with jaw-dropping astonishment when Time Warner merged with AOL in a record-breaking $100 billion deal.