How many are still on dial up

Kerry S
Kerry S Member Posts: 606 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hey Phil, I just read on another post of yours “remember dial up”.

What, am I the only one still on dial up??? We are lucky to have internet at all down here. The best speed I can get is 26K. What drives me nuts is you high speed folks sending me video files. I use outlook and when I see over a meg coming in, I have to stop email and go to my internet vendor site and delete the damn thing there. The only way I could get high speed is satellite. With all our money keeping the medical world employed, we can’t afford it. We don’t even have a cell phone. The joke is I worked as a voice and data telecommunications guy for 20 years.

So I have a question for the board. How many are still on dial up???
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Comments

  • Jaylo969
    Jaylo969 Member Posts: 824 Member
    Not many, huh?
    Kerry, looks like there aren't very many folks still on dial up. I had it back in the last century, then got fancy and got dsl. Now I am told that my dsl is slooooooow.But you know what, I'm getting tired of all the new fast paced gadgets and gizmos and I'm ready to get back to the simpler things. Like taking time to smell the roses, listening to the birds serenade one another, sitting down and having dinner with my husband without the rush, rush, of prior times.

    Brother Phil brought back memories in his post....good ones:)

    -Pat
  • dasspears
    dasspears Member Posts: 227
    What's dial up?
    Don't think I've ever had that!
  • Kathleen808
    Kathleen808 Member Posts: 2,342 Member
    Hi Kerry
    Hi Kerry,
    I didn't know dial up was still out there. :) Good you can be in touch no matter what the speed.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen
  • thready
    thready Member Posts: 474
    Dial up
    Well I have Cable internet, but think about it, only a few short years ago most of us were listening to that crazy sound that dial up made. We were getting acquainted with cell phones and who knew what LOL was anyway. We saw a commercial about On Star. They said the worst feeling was not to be able to call for help when you were in an accident. There was a time when no one could call for help.

    My son and daughter-in-law have stopped their cable TV, they just have a conversion box and get most of their TV through their computers-the cost in minimal compared to paying for cable. Things change, but I am enjoying the simple life. I am o.k. to slow down a bit and just enjoy the day!

    Kerry, a fellow we know has recently moved to Oregon. He was working for Comcast cable, one of his benefits was free cable, he could not afford a TV. I thinks Brooks said it best, "Life is Funny"

    Jan
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    Dial Up
    We had it until 6-7 years ago. We then went to DSL but changed to cable a little after that. The dial up must drive you nuts. That's funny that you worked as a data telecommunications guy for 20 years! I could not imagine not having high speed hookup now. I'm spoiled.
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    PhillieG said:

    Dial Up
    We had it until 6-7 years ago. We then went to DSL but changed to cable a little after that. The dial up must drive you nuts. That's funny that you worked as a data telecommunications guy for 20 years! I could not imagine not having high speed hookup now. I'm spoiled.

    I Had..
    ...Dial-up about 10 years ago, when I got my first PC. Our Cable company didn't even offer cable till a couple years later, the dialing made me nuts, and sometimes was so busy, it would take forever to even sign in the computer!

    I now have my Cable company take care of my cable TV (I get all the channels), my internet, and my phone bill all bundled in one, and Verizon is my cell phone. I got spoiled to, and couldn't imagine going through dial-up again. What sucks about cable TV is sometimes, even though you have all the channels, there could be nothing interesting you want to see on..but good that they have the demand channels now.

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    My mother still has dial up
    So when I'm at her house, and want to check emails or anything - S-L-O-W!

    However, at 92 1/2, with advancing dementia, the computer is really only used when we visit, or when her aides want to check their own email. I don't think a change is on the way.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    abrub said:

    My mother still has dial up
    So when I'm at her house, and want to check emails or anything - S-L-O-W!

    However, at 92 1/2, with advancing dementia, the computer is really only used when we visit, or when her aides want to check their own email. I don't think a change is on the way.

    When she was alive, my mother (who died Nov 2008, at 81+),
    was the only one I know who still had and used rotary dial phones, so I was never able to access my answering machine from her apartment (I didn;t have cell phone myself till about that time) and she never had cable TV or learned to use the internet.....steve
  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    Hey Kerry...


    I started with "crank-up", and the CO op wouldn't know how to
    plug me into the system, since my HAL was busted...

    We switched to the $19.95 dsl (AT&T) system (No POTS),
    and bought cellphones to converse.. The Cells are cheaper
    in the long run!

    (And yeah, my telco years are behind me too)


    Good health to ya'!

    John
  • sfmarie
    sfmarie Member Posts: 602
    Silicon Valley
    Is where I live, and I think the banned dial-up here :) Even though I have cable, my speed is still slow for "valley" standards. Or I am just very impatient.

    Marie
  • sfmarie said:

    Silicon Valley
    Is where I live, and I think the banned dial-up here :) Even though I have cable, my speed is still slow for "valley" standards. Or I am just very impatient.

    Marie

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    unknown said:

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator

    cable, DSL, dial up
    I live in the sticks and I always make sure i can get cable before I move into a new home! I work from my computer at my home and develop online, so my internet connection is important! I can remember having dialup when I first began and that was a bugger! Then the boss upgraded me to cable! We have found DSL to be too slow for the data rate through put we require for efficient work, but for entertainment computing, DSL can be a good alternative. They actually have T3 lines at the office, so they really have some speed, but they do a lot more data transferring at the main office than just my developing! I always laugh when I see the commercials offering "fast" dialup ... you're on a telephone line trying to send digital information on an analog line; the conversion alone slows down your connection and no amount of "boosting" can resolve that issue! DSL is merely a step up from the analog phone line to a digital phone line, still with the same kind of band width limitations, which is why it is still slower than cable. But if all you're doing is checking email, get one of those phones with data access or a device designed just for email access and use the wireless networks available; you'll probably come out cheaper than a dialup phone connection with a desktop PC, especially if you already have a cell phone. Just some thoughts on computer access at a time when I should be in bed asleep!
    mary
  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    And what's wrong with dial up.
    I am still on dial up. We in the backwoods of Australia are very wary of new fangled technology. What ifn it gives ya cancer:).We have a near monopoly situation with our telecom supplier here . Broadband comes at a price two to three times dial up with a measly download limit. So I stick with dial-up. Ron.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    ron50 said:

    And what's wrong with dial up.
    I am still on dial up. We in the backwoods of Australia are very wary of new fangled technology. What ifn it gives ya cancer:).We have a near monopoly situation with our telecom supplier here . Broadband comes at a price two to three times dial up with a measly download limit. So I stick with dial-up. Ron.

    I thought most of you guys down under
    were still using smoke signals......and messenger kiwis and emus......
  • zenmonk
    zenmonk Member Posts: 198
    dial-up
    I have had a push button phone for years.
  • Kerry S
    Kerry S Member Posts: 606 Member
    I bet you can’t pee in your yard
    Hey, folks we have to drive on a gravel road almost a mile before we get to paved.
    That might seem a bit rustic to you all, but I bet you can’t pee in your yard.

    We are only the 4th owners of this land from when it was a land grant in the 1850s. The guy that settled here is buried in the back yard. Found his and his second wife’s grave by accident.

    John, we have a fiber mux 5 miles away. Fiber is PFM once you can get on it. There is no way anyone could afford to run cable out here. Just not enough business to pay the tab.

    I love it here. When I croak I have a grove of pines where they will put my ashes.
  • Kerry S said:

    I bet you can’t pee in your yard
    Hey, folks we have to drive on a gravel road almost a mile before we get to paved.
    That might seem a bit rustic to you all, but I bet you can’t pee in your yard.

    We are only the 4th owners of this land from when it was a land grant in the 1850s. The guy that settled here is buried in the back yard. Found his and his second wife’s grave by accident.

    John, we have a fiber mux 5 miles away. Fiber is PFM once you can get on it. There is no way anyone could afford to run cable out here. Just not enough business to pay the tab.

    I love it here. When I croak I have a grove of pines where they will put my ashes.

    This comment has been removed by the Moderator
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    Kerry S said:

    I bet you can’t pee in your yard
    Hey, folks we have to drive on a gravel road almost a mile before we get to paved.
    That might seem a bit rustic to you all, but I bet you can’t pee in your yard.

    We are only the 4th owners of this land from when it was a land grant in the 1850s. The guy that settled here is buried in the back yard. Found his and his second wife’s grave by accident.

    John, we have a fiber mux 5 miles away. Fiber is PFM once you can get on it. There is no way anyone could afford to run cable out here. Just not enough business to pay the tab.

    I love it here. When I croak I have a grove of pines where they will put my ashes.

    I Remember, Kerry
    When we stayed with my grandmother, she was way out in the country - and me and my uncle used to pee out in the front yard, right off the porch - those were the days:) There was something so freeing and liberating about that - no one for miles around.

    They had an outhouse too - and we drew water from the well - and we all drank from the same dipper - and she had only one light socket and one bulb. We took baths in those metal wash tubs.

    And it was all red dirt and rocks and when it rained...and then one year they finally put the black top down on the roads and it made it much easier...the road used to wind for miles until we got to her house.

    They had one small living room, small kitchen, and a small bedroom....7-8 of us slept there - it was in the days when you could leave your windows open and smell the fresh country air...and the stars were so bright, 'cause it was so dark out in the country. My grandma locked the door by nailing a pice of wood in the frame and "turning it."

    I was a young boy, but my memories of this are still so very vivid - it taught me alot about life - no other child in the family experienced that, so when I talk about it, they roll their eyes - I treasure those days as it gave me an appreciation I would have never had without it.

    Oh, and one day, they got a small b&w tv - it got ONE station. For entertainment, we sat out on the porch and waved to the occasional car that would drive by - or someone would come over for a visit. We did something like "talking" back in those days.

    Nobody had anything, but we were happy then.

    See you, bud

    -Craig
  • Kerry S
    Kerry S Member Posts: 606 Member
    Sundanceh said:

    I Remember, Kerry
    When we stayed with my grandmother, she was way out in the country - and me and my uncle used to pee out in the front yard, right off the porch - those were the days:) There was something so freeing and liberating about that - no one for miles around.

    They had an outhouse too - and we drew water from the well - and we all drank from the same dipper - and she had only one light socket and one bulb. We took baths in those metal wash tubs.

    And it was all red dirt and rocks and when it rained...and then one year they finally put the black top down on the roads and it made it much easier...the road used to wind for miles until we got to her house.

    They had one small living room, small kitchen, and a small bedroom....7-8 of us slept there - it was in the days when you could leave your windows open and smell the fresh country air...and the stars were so bright, 'cause it was so dark out in the country. My grandma locked the door by nailing a pice of wood in the frame and "turning it."

    I was a young boy, but my memories of this are still so very vivid - it taught me alot about life - no other child in the family experienced that, so when I talk about it, they roll their eyes - I treasure those days as it gave me an appreciation I would have never had without it.

    Oh, and one day, they got a small b&w tv - it got ONE station. For entertainment, we sat out on the porch and waved to the occasional car that would drive by - or someone would come over for a visit. We did something like "talking" back in those days.

    Nobody had anything, but we were happy then.

    See you, bud

    -Craig

    The dirt bags stay away
    Craig,
    Yep you could lock your doors with a nail down here. The dirt bags stay away from here as they know everyone is armed to the teeth. If you did get lucky and bag one, you would just roll their body into the bucket of the tractor and take them out to a field and bury them. As long as you did not bury them too deep they would make good fertilizer.

    RE peeing in the yard. I think that is a primeval instinct of marking ones territory. It’s a guy thing. The wife does not do it that I know of.

    Kerry
  • snommintj
    snommintj Member Posts: 601
    Kerry S said:

    The dirt bags stay away
    Craig,
    Yep you could lock your doors with a nail down here. The dirt bags stay away from here as they know everyone is armed to the teeth. If you did get lucky and bag one, you would just roll their body into the bucket of the tractor and take them out to a field and bury them. As long as you did not bury them too deep they would make good fertilizer.

    RE peeing in the yard. I think that is a primeval instinct of marking ones territory. It’s a guy thing. The wife does not do it that I know of.

    Kerry

    never had it
    I've been on the internet since 1991 and have never had dial up, thank goodness. The first four years I had it was at the Naval Academy, even then they had a top notch connection. Then I was always connected through the base network. After that it's been all cable or dsl.