AOL Will Discontinue Dial-up Internet on September 30th

­Wait, what? Really? Seriously?? Dial-up internet is still a thing?

OK, in all seriousness, most of you are probably aware that this relic of the mid-late ‘90s still exists in some form, so the news that America Online will finally discontinue dial-up internet probably triggers a wave of emotions – not the least of which is unmitigated nostalgia.

It’s 1995 and you’ve just opened a computer magazine, a cereal box, a PC game, junk mail, or countless other venues and out pops a shiny CD (or in the old days, floppy disc) promising hundreds of free hours on the high-tech playground known as AOL.

Life was good – for you and for the plucky not-so-little Internet Service Provider which began life as PlayNET and would dominate the nascent web culture of the mid-‘90s, pioneering such features as chat rooms and the ubiquitous AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).

Broadband internet was still at least a decade away from becoming the dominant paradigm, and the world wide web was largely accessible via phone lines – if it took all night to download that Metallica MP3, that was fine and dandy. We were living on the cutting edge, exploring the great unknown.

But of course, every technology eventually nears the end of its expiration date – though in the case of dial-up internet, and even with 90% of adults owning a connected smartphone and streaming services taking over entertainment, some folks – mostly in rural and low-income areas – still haven’t made the switch to broadband.

And the former king of dial-up – and the internet in general – is finally moving on.

“We are discontinuing the dial-up internet service component included in certain legacy AOL Advantage, CompuServe, and Netscape Connect Plans as we innovate to meet the needs of today's digital landscape," said a spokesperson from AOL parent Yahoo! "This change does not impact the numerous other valued products and services that these subscribers are able to access and enjoy as part of their plans. There is also no impact to our users' free AOL email accounts.”

According to estimates, upwards of 175,000 American adults still use dial-up internet, and incredibly, AOL isn’t even the only provider – companies like Juno, DSL Extreme, NetZero and others still offer the internet equivalent of VHS.

AOL dial-up internet will disappear as of September 30th.