\n<\/p>\n
It may have been decades since you last heard the crunching screeches<\/a> of connecting with dial-up Internet, but AOL<\/a> said it will discontinue its dial-up service on September 30, officially marking the end of an era in Internet history. As first spotted by PC Gamer<\/em><\/a>, AOL made the surprising announcement in a post buried in its AOL Help pages. Along with the dial-up service, AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser will also be discontinued by the end of September.<\/p>\n It may come as a shock to most that AOL still runs its dial-up Internet service, but some thousands of users<\/a> still rely on this outdated method as an affordable way to access the Internet in more rural areas. However, these user numbers in the “low thousands” are a far cry from AOL’s heyday, which reportedly saw tens of millions of subscribers<\/a>, most likely thanks to the stacks of free trial CDs people would find in their mailboxes. Nowadays, dial-up Internet fails to compete against the likes of much faster broadband options, which include cable, fiber and satellite alternatives.<\/p>\n Even though AOL’s dial-up service eventually lost relevancy, it stuck around for 34 years before meeting the same fate as other ’90s tech icons like Blockbuster, Discmans and AOL Instant Messenger<\/a>. Now, the only time you’ll really hear that iconic America Online serenade is through recreations on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n