AOL Closes: The End of Dial-Up

Those with a few years under their belt remember the early days of the internet, when accessing the World Wide Web required connecting a modem to a traditional phone jack and, literally, dialing a phone number to reach your provider. We're talking about dial-up connections, which over time have been replaced by increasingly faster, more stable, reliable, and less intrusive methods (because they leave the phone line free for those who still use it).

Obviously, over the years, the companies that offered this kind of connectivity – which popped up like mushrooms in the late '90s – either adapted to new technologies or disappeared, often absorbed by larger groups. One of these, however, the historic AOL, born as America Online, continued to provide dial-up connectivity service in the USA... until September 30th.

APnews reports that the historic company has also succumbed to the law of progress and technological obsolescence, finally shutting down its dial-up servers. Evidently, the few users in the USA who still haven't been reached by broadband – or who for whatever reason stubbornly refuse to use it – are too few to justify such a service.

Rest in peace, dial-up: we'll remember you like this: