Company History 8: America Online

Stephen Case, America Online Inc.’s founder was a development manager at Pizza Hut when he became interested in a new online service called Source in the early 1980s. His interest led him to Control Video, a company that ran an online service for those using Atari computer games. In 1985, after financial struggles, the company was renamed Quantum Computer Services and began a new service called Q-Link, an online service for those using Commodore computers. By 1987 Quantum made agreements with Apple and Tandy due to Q-Link’s popularity, and a service called America Online was introduced in 1989 for IBM-compatible and Apple computers. Quantum Computer Services changed its name in 1991 to America Online.