03-06-2024, 01:53 PM
This post was last modified 03-06-2024, 01:53 PM by Maxmars.
Edit Reason: grammar
I remember to old days, I had to walk uphill both ways to and from school, my parents would smack me around if I got too uppity, dinosaurs roamed the earth, kids could go about their Halloween tricking and treating without an armed body guard watching them... and the heart-clenching sound of a modem trying desperately to "connect" with another modem on some bulletin board where we would share racy stories and adult-like conversations (and maybe take turns playing a game) ...
As it turns out, dialup services still exists today... two decades into the 21st century...
From Hackaday.com: DIAL-UP IS STILL, JUST BARELY, A THING
In an era dominated by broadband and wireless cellular networks, it might come as a surprise to many that dial-up internet services still exist in the United States. This persistence is not a mere relic of nostalgia — but a testament to the diverse and uneven nature of internet infrastructure across the country.
Yes, dial-up internet, with those screechy, crackly tones, remains a useful tool in areas where modern, high-speed internet services are either unaffordable or unavailable. Subscriber numbers are tiny, but some plough on and access the Internet by the old ways, not the new.
Now, in all the places in the virtual world, one where people obsess over the nature of any looming "end of civilization" type scenarios... I would have thought the idea of using existing infrastructure (physical phone lines) as a 'dial-up' networking possibility would have been extremely attractive.
Imagine it, networking with others without some 'middleman' service provider established 'rules' to limit, throttle, spy, or abuse you in any way. Pretty cool, no?
I get it, at a max of something between 9600 and 14.4 K baud... most everything we come to think of convenient is gone. But knowledge sharing and personal communications isn't something you might want to hinge on the good will and prosperity of a "service provider."
I would have thought any prepping society would establish a "backbone" network that actual people could use (not for machine automation - for actual communications.) But such are the fantastical musing of a mind like mine.
As it turns out, dialup services still exists today... two decades into the 21st century...
From Hackaday.com: DIAL-UP IS STILL, JUST BARELY, A THING
In an era dominated by broadband and wireless cellular networks, it might come as a surprise to many that dial-up internet services still exist in the United States. This persistence is not a mere relic of nostalgia — but a testament to the diverse and uneven nature of internet infrastructure across the country.
Yes, dial-up internet, with those screechy, crackly tones, remains a useful tool in areas where modern, high-speed internet services are either unaffordable or unavailable. Subscriber numbers are tiny, but some plough on and access the Internet by the old ways, not the new.
Now, in all the places in the virtual world, one where people obsess over the nature of any looming "end of civilization" type scenarios... I would have thought the idea of using existing infrastructure (physical phone lines) as a 'dial-up' networking possibility would have been extremely attractive.
Imagine it, networking with others without some 'middleman' service provider established 'rules' to limit, throttle, spy, or abuse you in any way. Pretty cool, no?
I get it, at a max of something between 9600 and 14.4 K baud... most everything we come to think of convenient is gone. But knowledge sharing and personal communications isn't something you might want to hinge on the good will and prosperity of a "service provider."
I would have thought any prepping society would establish a "backbone" network that actual people could use (not for machine automation - for actual communications.) But such are the fantastical musing of a mind like mine.
