"The creaky door to the internet was characterized by a once-ubiquitous series of beeps and buzzes heard over the phone line used to connect your computer online - along with frustrations of being kicked off the web if anyone else at home needed the landline for another call, and an endless bombardment of CDs mailed out by AOL to advertise free trials."
"A handful of consumers have continued to rely on internet services connected over telephone lines. In the U.S., according to Census Bureau data, an estimated 163,401 households were using dial-up alone to get online in 2023, representing just over 0.13% of all homes with internet subscriptions nationwide. While AOL was the largest dial-up internet provider for some time, it wasn't the only one to emerge over the years."
AOL has permanently discontinued its dial-up internet service and associated software optimized for older operating systems. The company removed dial-up advertising and help pages and users noted the service’s shutdown on social media. AOL’s dial-up service introduced many households to the World Wide Web in the 1990s and early 2000s. The connection was known for distinct modem beeps, shared landline limitations, and widespread distribution of trial CDs. Broadband and wireless technologies largely replaced dial-up, though about 163,401 U.S. households relied solely on dial-up in 2023 and a few smaller providers still offer the service.
Read at Fast Company
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