From: Nyssa@logicalinsight.net   
      
   InterLinked wrote:   
      
   > On 8/14/2025 8:19 AM, Nyssa wrote:   
   >> SH wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On 12/08/2025 13:08, Nyssa wrote:   
   >>>> Rich wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:   
   >>>>>> In comp.misc, Lawrence D'Oliveiro     
   >>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>> Further to that, 34 years ago puts their start in   
   >>>>>>> 1991, before CD-ROM drives became popular in PCs. I   
   >>>>>>> think they were giving out floppy disks for those   
   >>>>>>> first few years.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Anybody remember seeing an AOL floppy?   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Definitely. Better than CDs because you could just   
   >>>>>> wipe and reuse them.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1395721   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Which I did for many an AOL 3.5" floppy.  Not for   
   >>>>> anything valuable, but for a "copy file X from   
   >>>>> computer Y to computer Z" use they worked just fine.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> The CDROM's were only useful to either join AOL (which   
   >>>>> was never going to happen) or to make garden   
   >>>>> scarecrows.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> I made coasters with them.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Nyssa, who believe it or not is still on dialup (not   
   >>>> AOL) and has been for almost 40 years (not the same   
   >>>> ISPs)   
   >>>>   
   >>>   
   >>> given the fastest dial up modems are 56 kilobits, it   
   >>> must feel really slow viewing websites that rely on   
   >>> broadband to fling audio or video or   
   >>> Java/SHockwave/Flash at you?   
   >>>   
   >>> And downloading software must have taken days?   
   >>   
   >> Plus my local (rural) phone lines are crap. I get ~43Kbps   
   >> on average. It was better when I lived in the Big City.   
   >   
   >   
   > If I may ask, which ISP are you using?   
   >   
   > I've been doing some testing with several ISPs lately, all   
   > of whom seem to resell GlobalPOPs these days (including   
   > AOL it seems). The top speed I've gotten is 36000 a   
   > handful of times, and usually I get 31.2 or 33.6 - very   
   > difficult to get a V.90 connection anymore. They seem to   
   > have done some kind of concentration where they've cheaped   
   > out on their phone lines, doesn't seem to be real T1s   
   > anymore.   
      
   There weren't many to choose from, and probably even fewer   
   now.   
      
   I'm using one called Dialup4Less based somewhere out in   
   the Pactific Northwest. The price has doubled since I   
   signed up, but still a MUCH better value for me than   
   anything else offered around these parts.   
      
   Nyssa, who is a low-volume 'net user   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)