{"id":193032,"date":"2025-09-30T19:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T19:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/193032\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T19:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T19:59:07","slug":"aol-says-goodbye-to-technology-that-shaped-an-entire-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/193032\/","title":{"rendered":"AOL says goodbye to technology that shaped an entire generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 40 years, AOL has put to rest a service that was vital in shaping modern technology<\/a>: dial-up internet. <\/p>\n

\u201cAOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet,\u201d the company announced in August<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201c … 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many internet users may not remember (or are not old enough to have used) a dial-up internet service, for those who have and do remember \u2014 the announcement serves as a glaring sign of the times. <\/p>\n

Read more: USPS makes surprising decision for 2026 \u2014 and it has to do with prices<\/a><\/p>\n

Dial-up internet took off in the 1990s as internet became more accessible to the everyday person, whereas previously it was only really accessible to college institutes and the government. <\/p>\n

In 1992, Sprint<\/a> was the first company to launch dial-up internet commercially \u2014 making it accessible to the general public. <\/p>\n

The technology used a computer\u2019s modem to convert data into audio signals that could be transmitted over a telephone line. <\/p>\n

On the other line, an internet service provider had another modem to convert these signals back into data that allowed users to access the internet. <\/p>\n

Read more: Major auto parts company files for bankruptcy with over $10 billion in debt<\/a><\/p>\n

The dial-up system made using the internet and the phone impossible to do at the same time, an idea that younger internet users probably can\u2019t imagine thanks to smart phone capabilities. <\/p>\n

Now, internet users can talk on the phone while scrolling through countless web pages and apps. <\/p>\n

But back in the day, users would have to dial a specific phone number provided by an internet service provider to get online through a computer\u2019s modem. <\/p>\n

Once the internet service provider\u2019s modem answered, they would preform a \u201chandshake\u201d of loud hissing and chirping<\/a>. <\/p>\n

According to BBC<\/a>, less than 300,000 people in the U.S. reported having dial-up internet compared to 300 million having broadband internet, citing 2023 government estimates. <\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After 40 years, AOL has put to rest a service that was vital in shaping modern technology: dial-up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[174,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-193032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}