
58 CHAPTER 3 INVESTMENT ADVICE ON THE INTERNET
Unfortunately for the Gardners, the offline newsletter version of TMF was a
commercial failure. After attracting only 38 subscribers during its first month of
operation, the Gardners made the momentous decision to take their “conversa-
tion” about stocks to cyberspace. TMF originally appeared on America Online on
August 4, 1994.
4
The rest, as they say, is cyberhistory. Today, America Online
is the most popular online service. America Online advertises a worldwide
membership in excess of 30 million members, and TMF is its most popular
feature. TMF also attracts a large and growing audience on the Internet. ...