I remember the usenet and gopher features that were part of the AOL client. I remember the hype I had heard as a kid on AOL back in those days. When I found them and tried to use them (I was about 12 years old) I didn't find them very helpful or easy to use like the main forms in AOL but after a few years after leaving AOL I got way more out of IRC and usenet than I had in my time there. What AOL did for me at that time was present an internet that was good enough because it was easy enough to use.