Ending the dial-up era

Believe it or not, many people still connect to the Internet via those old-fashioned dial-up modems. I’m one of them. I have an updated PC at home, but until I offload all the old files off my older computer, which has no working disk drive and is not compatible with a high-speed modem, I’m stuck with dial-up access for a couple more months.

I’m not alone: about 10 percent of Americans who go online still use dial-up modems, a recent study found.

I’m fully aware that dial-up customers like me are dinosaurs. So much so that one of the pioneers of the Internet age, AOL, is getting out of the dial-up business.

This isn’t a surprise, as Time Warner, AOL’s parent, previously announced plans to sell the dial-up business, which is valued at $2 billion to $3 billion. The big question is: Who wants to buy it?

EarthLink is an obvious favorite. That company’s CEO would like to bolster his company’s status as the big fish in the shrinking dial-up pond. The Motley Food makes the case that no one else is in the position to take over the dial-up business.