March 8, 1996

APPLE'S EWORLD SUBSCRIBERS GET AOL AS NEW ONLINE SERVICE

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) -- Subscribers to Apple Computer Inc.'s eWorld won't be evicted from cyberspace after the company shuts down its online service at the end of the month.

Apple said Thursday that eWorld users will have access to America Online, the largest online service.

The announcement is part of a larger collaboration between Apple, the nation's No. 3 personal computer maker, and Vienna, Va.-based America Online Inc. AOL access software also will now be included in many of Apple's computers, and the companies plan to work together on programming and service.

"America Online has proved to be the most popular online service with Macintosh users so it's natural that we would evolve to offer AOL on the Apple desktop," said Steve Franzese, director of Apple's New Media, Entertainment and Internet group.

The announcement came two days after Apple told eWorld subscribers that it would end service on March 31.

eWorld, providing news, educational and entertainment information and Internet access, was started two years ago to compete with AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy.

The service got high marks for its easy-to-use graphics but eWorld won only 147,000 subscribers, compared with AOL's 5 million, CompuServe's 4.3 million and Prodigy's 1.4 million.

Apple and America Online said Thursday they would make it easy for eWorld subscribers to transfer with an electronic mail forwarding service, online "transition forums" and 15 free hours on AOL.

AOL software also will be installed on all Apple Performas sold in North America, Powerbook notebook computers and certain computers aimed at schools and small businesses. AOL software also will be bundled in Apple's computers sold in Europe.