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34 years ago, a service was released that let people connect to the internet using a standard telephone line and a modem
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Now the service that brought millions of households online in the 90s and early 2000s is finally hanging up the line
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Even if you are watching this video through Wi-Fi, mobile networks, or a broadband wired connection, yes, AOL dial-ups still exist
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At least it will for the next few weeks. The announcement on their website reads, AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue dial-up internet
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As a result, it'll be the end of an era on September 30th. You've got mail
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But dial-up wasn't just hanging around for nostalgia. It's still used in some situations, especially in a small percentage of rural and remote areas where broadband infrastructure is limited
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But that percentage is really small. In 2019, 265,000 people were still using dial-up for Internet access, according to the U.S. Census Bureau
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By 2023, that number dropped to 163,000. The AOL name is still very much online, but the end of dial-up follows the end of AIM chats back in 2017
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and those free trial disks of AOL that used to be mailed out
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It's one more sign that the internet has evolved and so has how we connect to it
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With Straight Arrow News, I'm Kennedy Felton. Download our app or visit san.com for more
