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  • AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued

    From Mindsurfer@21:3/119 to All on Sun Aug 10 21:39:53 2025
    Hey,

    i found out about this on X today:

    "AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans. As a result, on September 30, 2025 this service and the associated software, the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will be discontinued."

    https://help.aol.com/articles/dial-up-internet-to-be-discontinued

    Mindsurfer
    --- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
    * Origin: FuNToPiA BBS - telnet://funtopia.synchro.net:3023 (21:3/119)
  • From Bob Worm@21:1/205 to Mindsurfer on Sun Aug 10 22:48:02 2025
    Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Mindsurfer to All on Sun Aug 10 2025 21:39:53

    Hi, Mindsurfer.

    https://help.aol.com/articles/dial-up-internet-to-be-discontinued

    Aww, if my nan were still alive she'd have been disappointed. But I think even she had switched to AOL via cable by around 2000.

    I still find it pretty wild that my nan was on the Internet, going to real life meet-ups with friends she found online and even meeting gentleman friends online before half the people here knew what the Internet was.

    BobW
    --- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
    * Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - magnumbbs.net (21:1/205)
  • From Mortar M.@21:2/101 to Mindsurfer on Mon Aug 11 13:46:41 2025
    Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Mindsurfer to All on Sun Aug 10 2025 21:39:53

    "AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet.

    Man, that's gonna disappoint a dozen people.
    "You've been disconnected!"
    --- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)
  • From Mortar M.@21:2/101 to Bob Worm on Mon Aug 11 13:52:11 2025
    Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Bob Worm to Mindsurfer on Sun Aug 10 2025 22:48:02

    I still find it pretty wild that my nan was on the Internet...

    Sounds like she was a progressive lady. My Sister, who's only three years older, can't even do cut-and-paste.
    --- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)
  • From Mindsurfer@21:3/119 to Mortar M. on Mon Aug 11 22:52:26 2025
    Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Mortar M. to Mindsurfer on Mon Aug 11 2025 13:46:41

    "AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to
    discontinue Dial-up Internet.

    Man, that's gonna disappoint a dozen people. "You've been disconnected!"

    I would like to know how many dial up users they still had at the end, or if they just closed the dial up cause nobody was using it anymore.

    Mindsurfer
    --- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
    * Origin: FuNToPiA BBS - telnet://funtopia.synchro.net:3023 (21:3/119)
  • From Ganiman@21:3/174 to Mindsurfer on Mon Aug 11 22:28:50 2025
    I would like to know how many dial up users they still had at the end,
    or if they just closed the dial up cause nobody was using it anymore.

    I don't know if you'll find AOL stats here but some census data on dial-up usage can be found here:

    https://data.census.gov/table?q=internet+subscription

    ---
    Ganiman
    bbs.madetoraid.com:[2323/2222]

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: Made to Raid BBS (21:3/174)
  • From Mindsurfer@21:3/119 to Ganiman on Tue Aug 12 11:25:55 2025
    Re: Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Ganiman to Mindsurfer on Mon Aug 11 2025 22:28:50

    I would like to know how many dial up users they still had at the end,
    or if they just closed the dial up cause nobody was using it anymore.

    I don't know if you'll find AOL stats here but some census data on dial-up usage can be found here:

    https://data.census.gov/table?q=internet+subscription

    Wow, round about 160000! thats still quite alot. more then i thought.

    Mindsurfer
    --- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
    * Origin: FuNToPiA BBS - telnet://funtopia.synchro.net:3023 (21:3/119)
  • From Bob Worm@21:1/205 to Mortar M. on Tue Aug 12 17:42:34 2025
    Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Mortar M. to Bob Worm on Mon Aug 11 2025 13:52:11

    Sounds like she was a progressive lady. My Sister, who's only three years older, can't even do cut-and-paste.

    Heha - it's funny because people are surprised by how computer literate my mum is - it shouldn't be that surprising that a 77 year old knows her WiFi details but there we go. She taught her mum how to use the Internet about 25 years ago, after I taught her :)

    BobW
    --- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
    * Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - magnumbbs.net (21:1/205)
  • From Bob Worm@21:1/205 to Mindsurfer on Tue Aug 12 17:46:05 2025
    Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Mindsurfer to Mortar M. on Mon Aug 11 2025 22:52:26

    Man, that's gonna disappoint a dozen people. "You've been disconnected!"
    I would like to know how many dial up users they still had at the end, or if they just closed the dial up cause nobody was using it anymore.

    I think things like this always have a really long tail. I bet theres a couple of hundred people still using it, probably some areas still don't have cable / DSL / fibre.

    In the UK they are trying to close a load of telephone exchanges but it keeps being pushed back, in part because there's not a viable alternative for some things like old-people-falling-down alarms. You can do it over VoIP but then you have issues with battery backup times, etc.

    BobW
    --- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
    * Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - magnumbbs.net (21:1/205)
  • From Mortar M.@21:2/101 to Mindsurfer on Tue Aug 12 13:37:38 2025
    Re: Re: AOL Dial-up Internet to be discontinued
    By: Mindsurfer to Ganiman on Tue Aug 12 2025 11:25:55

    Wow, round about 160000! thats still quite alot.

    Not really, about the population of a mid-sized city, and only ~.001% of people with Internet access.
    --- SBBSecho 3.29-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)