AOL ditching dial-up service, a relic of the internet in the '90s and early '00s
Source: NBC News
Aug. 11, 2025, 12:51 AM EDT
In the hazy impressions of memory, some may even recall it fondly: The AOL dial-up internet service that those of a certain age associate with the World Wide Web is coming to a close.
The company, also known by its "You've got mail" greeting and the CD trial discs — so many CDs — made the announcement on its website.
"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," the web provider said.
Absent the wireless signals of the modern day, dial-up connected to the internet using a conventional telephone line, emitting a distinctive, high-pitched chirping sound in the process. AOL, now part of Yahoo, said the dial-up service, along with the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, will be discontinued on Sept. 30.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/aol-ditching-dial-service-relic-internet-90s-early-00s-rcna224219
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is also covered by Norton's email filters.
I won't stop using them until I have to, because having had them for so long, I have no way of knowing how many have only that means to contact me. That is especially true because I worked overseas for so long and I do hear from some of these folks sporadically.
My only complaint is how difficult it was with the last version of MS-Outlook to get the two to "play nice together." I hear that the new version of Outlook addresses that, but I've not yet tried. I do use Outlook for my work email, but I try very hard to limit who has access to that to avoid all the spam.
I tried Gmail once and had nothing but problems. And, the Google-associated hacks make AOL look like the cyber version of Fort Knox to me. Granted they are all vulnerable, so it is merely relative. 
Ahh, the good ol' days...
(the coupler was on the side and killed lots of trees doing it
)
(at home because I already had a work connection as a fed) was Prodigy (I think in 1993). Got a billion of those Aol discs in the mail but ignored them and tried to decide between CompuServ or Prodigy and picked Prodigy. Spent a lot of time in the old USENET groups (eventually taken over by Google).
Aol eventually took over CompuServe and by ~1996, since I had Comcast cable at the time, they were pilot-testing their "Comcast@Home" "HSI" (High Speed Internet) over the cable and my zip was one of the eligible test areas so I went on and got that (but also got Verizon's DSL as a backup - sort of a step above a dial-up).
Ironically, I did end up with an Aol mail account after Prodigy went bye bye and only recently got rid of it (I think they were charging $5 per month for it).
Got them for a good price too!
Clever and hilarious. 
AOL scattered trial 3½-inch floppies all over the place before CDs were in common use. I may still have one in a box somewhere, but I've got nothing to stick it into. 
I didn't think AOL existed anymore, though -- at least, not as such. I made some great friends there; one even turned into an LTR.
And everybody remembers the sound of logging on via dial-up.