AOL will end dial-up internet service in September, 34 years after it's debut — AOL Shield Browser and AOL Dialer software will be shuttered on the same day

Nooooooooo! How will I connect my Dreamcast to the internet now? 😩

I know you're being sarcastic, but I can give you an actual answer from when I was a Dreamcast owner.

One of the wonderful things about the Dreamcast modem is that you can configure it skip dial tone detection. You can them take an old telephone line (the kind you'd plug into the wall, then to the modem), cut it in half and a couple of resistors in specific places. You take that modified cable and plug one end into your Dreamcast, then the other into a modem in PC. You then set up Dial up routing software on your PC. There's a lite version built into Windows 98 if my memory is correct (Dial up networking services Server). Initiate the Dreamcast to dial (it doesn't matter what phone number). The PC answers (you hear the dial up handshake squaking), and your Dreamcast is online! You can use the Dreamcast browser or online Dreamcast games like Timesplitters. If you did this long enough ago you could also play the MMOs like Phantasy Star Online.

There was an Ethernet adapter for them

If you're serious about it, you can try to snag a DreamPi kit from https://dreamcastlive.net/shop/

They also organize game nights and maintain a list of playable games and game server software.

I know they used to scam people. Worled for Bell South. Had customer call needed me to setup his internet so that the 40 dollars he was paying AOL would work. After bit of probing, I figured out that Bell South was going charge him 80 a month for was the actual internet. All he was paying AOL 40 for was to use their home screen.

I ended up convincing him that he didn't need pay AOL a dime. That we would provide the internet home screen included.

So wouldn't surprise me at all if they were charging people for dailup they weren't using. Also this said thay were shutting down the program, not stop charging people.

TIL dail up is still a thing fucking crazy.

To be fair, I have rural family in areas where dial up is still their only internet option.

Their state of ruralism is undesirable I figure

I know someone who's only way they curbed their Internet gambling addiction was by switching to dial up. They still needed internet for work email and social stuff, so going completely offline wasn't an option. He would have to drag his computer to other people's houses to do software updates because he couldn't figure out how to use a slim Linux distro either.

With bits you can hear! 📠

Me too! The crackhead downstairs tried to sell us AOL CDs.

"You guys are into computers, right!? I got this software, only $20!"