http://lazylaces.com/56Kmodem/ Ahhh...the 56k modem. Remember how we all thought that was the best and fastest way to get on the internet?
When I first went online with my big bad Windows 98 (HA!) computer with 64 MB of RAM and only a 2 GB hard drive, I tried using those worthless "free" dial-up internet providers that were everywhere in the Roaring '90s when it seemed like you could pay ALL the bills AND provide free internet with banner ads. Unfortunately, they had a habit of cutting you off after an hour...then 30 minutes....then 15 minutes. Finally, I yelled uncle and signed up for actual internet service. (GOOD LUCK trying to call me then!)
I think 56k still has it's place for non-computer junkie people who only use the internet to surf for something specific or use e-mail and nothing else. Or for the REALLY poor. It should always be there and really cheap if worse comes to worse.
I learned how to tweak a 56k modem to run at it's peak. But it was still prone to cut-offs......
I on the other hand am a power and speed FREAK, expecting nothing less than the FASTEST possible connection. I was a dedicated "netizen" and I wasn't changing for anyone.
I used 56k until from 1998 to early 2001 when I moved up to broadband. I paid about $100 bucks a month for it then - a LOT less now (about $30 now), but when I first set it up and connected, I though I was in heaven.
The only problem today is websites are a lot more complex and don't work too well with dial-up. An average home page in 1999 had only 50-200kb of data. Today, it's 1-3 MB or more. So load up times take a lot longer on 56k now. It took 15 minutes to download a 3 MB file in 2000 with dial-up. Today, it takes less than a nanosecond with broadband.
Those were the daze......
History's Dumpster = GLORIOUS trash! Kitsch, music, fashion, food, history, ephemera, and other memorable and forgotten, famous and infamous pop culture junk and oddities of yesterday and today. Saved from the landfill of time...
Don't laugh - I still have a dial-up account as backup. Why on earth would someone need that? Welp, our cable internet service is great - when it works - which is about 56 out of every 60 minutes. (Anyone who has Comcast may know what I'm talking about.) So when I need something done and I need to know it's done I switch to the - again, don't laugh - more reliable dial up service. There is nothing more &%%#!&#@*! exasperating than having your cable internet service go tits up in the middle of something important - like making credit card payments.
ReplyDeleteI could stay connected via dial-up for days (not that I do or want to any more) without it barfing or dropping the connection - not something I can say about our high speed cable service.