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Daily Record
an hour ago
- Business
- Daily Record
AOL dial-up to shut down as early inernet pioneer to hang up the phone for good
One of the first internet giants will soon be shut down after 34 years. While many people may be more shocked to hear that service is still running today, AOL is set to dial-up for the last time. For those who used the internet in its early days, you will still be able to recall the array of beeps and boops that came with dial-up technology. Back before smartphones, iPads, and laptops, telephone lines were how households connected to the internet in the 1990s. However 34 years on, we are definitely in a whole new era of technology where this service is no longer required. AOL, otherwise known as America Online, will be shutting down its dial-up internet service for customers in Canada and the US, reports the Express. This shut down may seem like a long time coming as AOL UK was discontinued back 2006 after the firm was purchased by the Carphone Warehouse. However, for those feeling nostalgic, the brand can still be accessed through old email addresses. In fact, you can even still sign up for an account. The shut down of AOL across the pond is set to take place on September 30, 2025, leaving any households who refused to switch to modern broadband services with two options. Either make the much needed upgrade or go without the internet. Dial-up technology was all the rage back in the '90s, which used standard telephone lines to access the internet. This was the perfect system at the time as emails and the web were mostly text-based and websites were much simpler. However, this revolutionary system would struggle to function properly in the current day and age due to websites and games requiring massive amounts of data to load up. In fact, to download a 1GB file, dial-up technology would need one day, 15 hours and 40 minutes as the service had an average data speed of 56 kilobytes per second. In comparison, UK regulator Ofcom says that the average UK broadband speed in 2025 is 223 Mbps - meaning the same file could be downloaded in less than 36 seconds. AOL website states: "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." The beeps, boops and sometimes screeches from AOL were a regular sound in households across the US and the UK. This was due to the portals, email services and internet connection it provided at the time. However, some of the AOL products didn't let households access all types of websites. AOL became even more popular in 1998 thanks to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan's film 'You've Got Mail'. Throughout the film the characters send love letters to each other through AOL email, which inspired others to do the same. The current AOL is owned by Yahoo, which some web users choose as their go to browser. However, it is more likely today that Microsoft or Google has become the default. According to the BBC, in 2023 fewer than 300,000 people in the US reported using a dial-up internet connection. This is drastically smaller than the 300million Amercians using a speedy broadband service to connect to their social media, web browser and streaming sites. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Newsweek
18 hours ago
- Newsweek
Millennials Mourn End of AOL Dial Up
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. AOL has announced it is to discontinue its dial-up internet service and associated software next month, marking the end of a product that has been part of consumer internet access for more than three decades. AOL posted a notice on its help portal saying the service would stop on Sept. 30, prompting immediate online nostalgia among people who learned about the internet through AOL's dial-up experience, and the associated screeches and beeps of modems conducting an analog handshake to establish a connection. The move has also brought attention to the small number of remaining dial-up users who will need to find alternative ways to get online. Why it Matters AOL's dial-up service once connected tens of millions of Americans to the nascent World Wide Web; its retirement represents a symbolic close to an early chapter of mainstream internet adoption. AOL's dial-up tone and "You've got mail" alert were cultural touchstones for users, many of whom shared their reaction online. Census data suggests less than 1 percent of US households still rely on dial-up for internet access. What To Know In a statement on its website, AOL said: "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." The announcement was met with nostalgic dismay from some social media users, including millennials, who grew up with the service. The AOL website on a computer screen in Cali, Colombia, May 21, 2013. The AOL website on a computer screen in Cali, Colombia, May 21, 2013. Getty Images X user Doc Strangelove posted: "The sound of AOL dial up firing on, is burned into the DNA of millennials." X user Brian Reich commented: "AOL is ending its dial-up service, huh? I guess my childhood is finally over." The X account Physical Media Forever posted simply: "End of an Era." AOL grew massively in the 90s; by 1995 it had about 10 million customers and later became the world's largest internet company at the height of the dot-com era. The company merged with Time Warner in 2000, was later spun out, and was purchased by Verizon in 2015; parts of AOL and Yahoo were sold to Apollo Global Management in 2021. What Happens Next Remaining AOL dial-up subscribers have until Sept. 30 to arrange alternative internet access.
CNET
19 hours ago
- CNET
AOL Will Pull the Plug on Dial-Up Internet, 34 Years After Its Launch
Like TV screen static, a VHS tape rewinding, or a butter churn, the grating sound of AOL dial-up Internet will also soon be a thing of the past. As simply stated on its support website, "Dial-up Internet to be discontinued." The service will end Sept. 30 2025, at which point, "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." That's not good news for those folks still relying on dial-up, mainly in rural areas in the US and where broadband is not available. Data from the 2019 census revealed that 265,331 people relied solely on dial-up Internet. The cacophony of beeps and whistles that accompanied dial-up Internet were an iconic sound from the dot-com boom of the 1990s. Hopefully folks losing their dial-up will be able to access one of several alternatives: DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), cable, fiber optic (FTH), wireless internet (such as 5G) or satellite. AOL ending its dial-up sparked a bunch of threads on Reddit, with many chatters surprised that dial-up still existed in this era of fast-speed Internet. On a thread, "AOL discontinues its dial-up internet, and we're just surprised they even offered it in 2025," many Redditers waxed nostalgic:
Euronews
20 hours ago
- Business
- Euronews
AOL is shutting down dial-up internet after 34 years
Remember dial-up internet? One of its biggest providers says it's time to retire the service – one of the first ways people could get online – after more than three decades. American online service provider America Online (AOL), now part of Yahoo, released a statement this week saying that it will 'discontinue dial-up internet' at the end of September after evaluating its products and services. That includes AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which work on older operating systems and dial-internet connections, the company said. AOL first launched dial-up in the United States in 1991. For many, it was the primary way to access the internet for years. A dial-up service uses a telephone line to connect a computer to the internet. A computer would use a modem to place a phone call to an internet provider's modem and, once answered, the two would then connect a computer to the internet. The AOL dial-up service worked by launching an internet connection with a dial tone. If there were any issues with connecting, people were asked to unplug the other devices in their home and to restart their computer's modem. Media reports from the 1990s and early 2000s hailed AOL's entrance to Europe 30 years ago, saying the company aimed to expand its grip on dial-up internet. AOL Europe had millions of subscribers, but it faced 'stiff competition, pricing difficulties and strategic miscues,' Bloomberg reported in 2002. Today, it is quite rare for people to continue using the 90s internet staple due to the expansion of broadband and mobile internet services. In the European Union, approximately 2 percent of the population used dial-up to access the internet in 2018, the most recent year with data available, according to Eurostat. That's compared to the roughly 88 per cent of EU households that relied on broadband connections that year. That share rose to nearly 93 per cent in 2021.
UPI
a day ago
- Business
- UPI
AOL to shut down dial-up internet in September
AOL announced it plans to shutter its dial-up Internet services and products on Sept. 30. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo Aug. 11 (UPI) -- AOL announced it plans to end dial-up Internet service after 40 years in operation by the end of September. The company said in a press release that its dial-up service and associated products will be shuttered on Sept. 30. "AOL routinely evaluates its products and servies and has decided to discontinue dial-up Internet," the company said. "The AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up connections, will be discontinued." Although the dial-up mode of connection, which at a top of 56 kilobits per second, is far less optimal when compared to modern connections that are measured in megabits and gigabits, was still able to provide an online option where broadband wasn't available or for low-income families. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in 2023, around 163,400 Americans still completely counted on dial-up service alone as an internet connection. The termination of the service does not affect any of the other benefits offered to AOL customers.
