The End of AOL Dial-Up: A Reminder That All Empires Eventually Fall

Sure, let’s dive into this wild trip down memory lane. Buckle up!

Okay, so here’s the thing. AOL—remember that name? America Online for those who’ve been around the block since, like, the ‘90s. Wild times. Anyway, it’s 2025 and they’ve finally pulled the plug on dial-up. Yep, that ancient internet thingy that hogged your phone line and crawled at a snail’s pace. Seriously, it felt like waiting for paint to dry. Man, I can almost hear that screechy modem sound. Makes my teeth itch. Anyway, September 30 marks the end.

A lot of folks are just like, “Wait, what? Dial-up was still a thing?” Turns out, about 163,401 households—according to the Census, mind you—were still doing the dial-up dance in 2023. Honestly, probably a bunch of grandparents checking their email once a week. Just a hunch.

If you were kicking around in the ‘90s, you couldn’t escape AOL. Even if you weren’t, you’ve likely heard the legendary “You’ve got mail” chime. Imagine that blasting every time a new email hits. In 2025, that sounds like a nightmare. But hey, look at us now, zooming through broadband like it’s no big deal.

Ah, memories. My own family jumped on the dial-up train when I was in elementary. Before that, I’d bug my uncle or hit up a friend’s house just to snag some Shadow the Hedgehog pics. Priorities, right? Music videos were a whole slideshow situation—buffer, buffer, buffer! And hey, LAN parties were the jam because, let’s be real, dial-up was no guardian angel for gamers. Fast forward, and now we’re doing virtual hangouts like it’s nothing. Full circle, huh?

AOL wasn’t just internet; it was a vibe. That funky “You’ve got mail” sound, AIM chats, and the modem’s wailing—practically ‘90s soundtrack material. Boy bands, Pokemon, Internet Explorer—the trifecta of nostalgia. AOL was the king of it all, back when the internet felt like exploring a new world.

Oh man, remember when AOL and Time Warner teamed up? That was 2001, peak corporate drama. But it’s different now. By 2015, AOL had hitched its wagon to Yahoo! Bet you didn’t see that coming. Now it’s mostly just a news aggregator. Time, man. It changes everything. Once a titan, now just another player. It’s crazy how even giants crumble. Here’s to sticking around long enough to see it all unravel.