Does anyone use dial up anymore?

well, do you? My mac doesn't even have the hook up for it... dial up= ?

No, I don't. But, some people still have no other choice. So, yeah, several anyones do.

that would have to suck, especially on a mac...

Some overseas countries still use dial up. I had to use dial up in the Republic of Georgia. Luckily I brought my MBP along with my old decrepit VAIO laptop and utilized the VAIO's modem port.

A lot of remote regions in the US still use dial-up..the other alternative is usually Satellite, but the limitations of (bandwidth) of Satellite for the price you pay for it makes no sense..

I think Broadband is available in any relatively populated area, with a lot of metros offering WiFi as well..

Regards

PsychologyGuy said:

that would have to suck, especially on a mac...

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Why would it just suck on a Mac? Dial-up on any computer would suck...regardless of the brand!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Why would it just suck on a Mac? Dial-up on any computer would suck...regardless of the brand!

- Nick

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yeah of course it would be bad on anything but I say especially on a mac because they are such fast and efficient computers that dial up would just plain suck

Unless I was forced to I would hate to go back to dial-up. I haven't used one in a long time. Fast always on internet completely changes the way a person uses the internet. For example I stream a lot more stuff than I use to and it has become an entertainment media while also being useful for work.

Instead of mailing business clients data on CDs/DVDs I can now upload to someplace for them to download or transfer it to them directly in real time. A lot people already do this with smaller files through email. Such a simple thing like that we take for granted nowadays I remember was such a chore on dial-up. Many websites nowadays are no longer optimized for dial-up so dial-up feels ten times as slow as it did in the past.

Although if a person has DSL dial-up is a nice backup. If your DSL goes out you can still connect to the internet while your ISP is trying to fix your DSL connection. Some DSL providers offer dial-up as a free service just for this backup feature. It gives a slight incentive over cable internet.

People still have landlines to GET dial up?! =-O

Haha, occasionally at Best Buy we'll get the guy who is like, "does this thing have a modem built in? all I get out there is dial up!"

Freaks me out, man. Freaks me out.

I miss the sounds of the modem dialing and the negotiation to connected.

I loved USR Courier externals. Best modems for Sysops and Fidonet hubs.

I go way back with computers and online usage. My first modem was a Commodore VICModem. Horrible thing. You had to have an older phone with the handset cord. Dial the number ON THE PHONE and then yank the HandSet cord out and plug it into the VIC modem. What a pain!

My first decent modem was a Avatex 1200 baud. Had all the AT commands and I had to make up my own RS-232 cable to connect it to the stupid RS-232 interface cartridge of my Commodore 64! It was a pain back then as this was pre internet. I found a book that showed the pin numbers on the DB-25 plug. I still remember 2 was receive and 3 was send and 7 was ground. Forget CTS and RTS, think 3 & 4

all I remember is that I could never get a 56k connection even though I had a 56k modem. Usually would get a 28k I think...wow, I would get stressed with that thing.

PsychologyGuy said:

all I remember is that I could never get a 56k connection even though I had a 56k modem. Usually would get a 28k I think...wow, I would get stressed with that thing.

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Depending on how close you were to the CO (Central Office), a 56K class connect could be a pain. Where I lived before this place 28.8 or 33.6 was it. When I moved here with a good USR modem I got 53,333 which is technically the maximum the FCC allows. I am maybe 1 mile from the Central Office here. 2 months after I moved here I ordered DSL and never looked back.

I do still use Dial Up if I visit this small town called Columbia in the mountains of Northern Calif. Where this one friend lives there is nothing. No Cable, No DSL. Just Dialup and 21k - 24000 Max. He can't even get a 28.800!

I had to use a 56k connection to update some ancient cellular switches. Had to end up using a ancient Toshiba lappy that that still had the ports. luckily it still worked. Isnt AOL still offering dial up? along with earthlink and the like.

dtravis7 said:

I miss the sounds of the modem dialing and the negotiation to connected.

I loved USR Courier externals. Best modems for Sysops and Fidonet hubs.

I go way back with computers and online usage. My first modem was a Commodore VICModem. Horrible thing. You had to have an older phone with the handset cord. Dial the number ON THE PHONE and then yank the HandSet cord out and plug it into the VIC modem. What a pain!

My first decent modem was a Avatex 1200 baud. Had all the AT commands and I had to make up my own RS-232 cable to connect it to the stupid RS-232 interface cartridge of my Commodore 64! It was a pain back then as this was pre internet. I found a book that showed the pin numbers on the DB-25 plug. I still remember 2 was receive and 3 was send and 7 was ground. Forget CTS and RTS, think 3 & 4

Click to expand...

I would say that you are dating yourself in this post. Ahhh, the old days.

JohnCL said:

I would say that you are dating yourself in this post. Ahhh, the old days.

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Yes and no!

I knew kids maybe 5-6 years old who were very active in setting up BBS's and early computers and had some of the same experiences I did.

Today they are in their early 20's and ask me if my BBS is still up!

I wish I could have started earlier than I did with computers. I came along after the Commodore 64 but was poor so it was all I could afford used. SLOW old thing!

We got our first dial up modem when I was 16 years old (and back then, 11 years ago, it cost £90!). I thought the internet would be great for ummmm 'research', but by the time an image had d/loaded I had lost errm...interest!

The bad old days....

Mo....dem? I'm sorry, what is that? That word is unfamiliar to my young mind.

I remember the screeching noise. I remember when we had a second phone line put in the house so that we could finally use the phone at the same time.

vansmith said:

I remember the screeching noise. I remember when we had a second phone line put in the house so that we could finally use the phone at the same time.

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Exactly! I remember doing that at a couple places I lived as well.

Nothing worse than having one phone line (back then)...and living in a place with more than one person...and having them pick up the phone to make a phone call...just to interrupt a 3 hour or longer download...and have to start all over again!

- Nick

idsamdg said:

I thought the internet would be great for ummmm 'research', but by the time an image had d/loaded I had lost errm...interest!

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I know what you mean. The internet would not have involved in the way it has if it were not for fast broadband internet speeds. It has become pretty much a requirement nowadays for me like the phone has become for most people. The entertainment part is nice but I wouldn't be able to get some of my work done without the internet and it would make working from home 10 times as hard.

vansmith said:

I remember when we had a second phone line put in the house so that we could finally use the phone at the same time.

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I also remember those days. It cost us almost as much to have dial-up as it does now with broadband internet when we added the cost of the extra line to our regular dial-up ISP monthly fees.

'Working from home' haha, not quite what I meant but I get ya!