Cue the door-close sound effect, because an internet OG is logging off.
If your first reaction was “Dial-up still exists?”, then you’re not alone.
AOL quietly announced on Friday that it’s pulling the plug on dial-up internet, the service that made it a Y2K-era icon. In a short statement, AOL said it made the decision after a routine evaluation of its products and services.
AOL has fallen a long way since it was the country’s biggest internet provider: In 1999, AOL had more than 18 million subscribers. In 2015, there were about two million AOL dial-up customers. By 2021, that number was in the low thousands.
Party like it’s 1999: Dial-up persists in part because some rural areas don’t have access to affordable high-speed internet. Fortunately for them, other companies will still offer dial-up service.
AOL’s final “goodbye” is scheduled for September 30, presumably because that’s when the company’s mom needs to make a phone call.
I almost miss that sound. I thought myself quite the fancy pants back in the 90’s - I had a second phone line installed. One for the actual phone and one dedicated to getting online AOL was an amazing “gadget” You never had to pay for a disk either. Everyone had them. The Post Office even had them. They were free everywhere. The only thing you paid for back then was the phone line. But, most everyone already had one.
A related memory … when you would travel during dialup days, you’d have to get online before you left and get dialup numbers for the area you’d be traveling to. Hotel phones had a jack so you could plug your laptop into the phone and use your local dialup number to get online.
I remember getting dozens of AOL CDs in the mail. There were so many of them that a bar/restaurant in town used them for coasters. AOL must have spent a fortune sending those things out.
I still have one vendor that requires fax signatures. The fax machine I have still does the dial-up handshake. Makes me smile.
Yeah I could use a document reader but that takes all the fun out of placing the order!
Whoa, I haven’t thought about a fax machine in a long, long time. As a home-based, self-employed designer, I thought I was the bee’s knees when I had an office line and a dedicated fax line — and even cooler when I’d use the fax line to facilitate three-way conference calls.
I totally agree. That’s part of being an old fart, I guess. Not that I’m calling you an old fart. I’m calling myself an old fart.
I had an old copier, too, with a metal base cabinet that held paper. I used it a lot back in the day. It got to the point that I used it so little, and the toner was so expensive, the amount of space it took up wasn’t worth the few times I needed it. It got recycled, and I have not missed it.
And as much as tech has improved, that still hasn’t. It’s well out of my ballpark to have a personal copier/printer that takes toner. It’s still hundreds of dollars
I miss the 11x17" color laser printers we always had at work, but there’s no way I’d spend that much for a home studio unless I were raking in the money and had more than a once-in-a-blue-moon use for it.
These days a good photo print off an 11x17 photo printer is miles above what you’d get out of today’s laser printers. I always hate to hear, “match the laser I’m going to send you.” That’s guaranteed to get you “color correction charges.”
Well, I don’t feel so bad that I can’t afford one then LOL. I do like my little HP printer. It really does a nice job with photos. I put together a few little books as gifts for family over the past couple of years
I’ve gone through several color laser and ink jet printers — including a couple of those monster Epson ink jets that would print 13” x 19” sheets. From my experience, unless you’re pushing ink on a daily basis, they get clogged and streaky and then it’s game over. These days, I rely on a local OfficeDepot for color prints — cheap and surprising color-accurate and consistent, at least that’s what I’ve found with my local store.
That’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed away from inkjet printers, too. I use a printer every two or three weeks. I was unhappy with the old Epson inkjet printer (ten-plus years ago) I owned — ink prices, smudges, terrible text reproduction, but I’m sure those issues (except the ink prices) have mostly gone away.
I’m not really proofing for color accuracy, so exact color reproduction isn’t terribly important as long as it’s in the ballpark. It might seem odd, but I’ve rarely been in a situation during my career where spot-on color accuracy was critical.
These days, I’m mostly proofing type design, printing out tax documents, and other routine stuff. I have an old Brother B&W 8.5x14" printer, which fits my needs 90% of the time.
Are they laser or inkjet printers? Do you have a choice of paper? They might be a good option for me when I need something better and bigger than what I have.
Laser / toner-based printers. My local store can do up to 12” x 18” sheets which allows me to print 11” x 17” with bleeds if need be. They have a variety of papers.
In 1999, AOL had more than 18 million subscribers.
AOL was an amazing “gadget” 
You never had to pay for a disk either. Everyone had them. The Post Office even had them. They were free everywhere. The only thing you paid for back then was the phone line. But, most everyone already had one.
Haven’t used it in a verrrry long time though.
