Earthlink is certainly gaining some free advertising with the media argument that the recession is driving people back to dial-up. Despite the fact the company really has no future business model, they recently excited the Associated Press by dropping the cost of service to $7.95 per month. The Tampa Tribune is also breathlessly suggesting the life of dial-up is being extended by the recession. The Orlando Sentinel takes things one step further, by using one person who might revert to dial-up to suggest there's a broader trend:Of course while times are hard for many, they're not that hard: most people aren't cutting luxury services like TV, carrier earnings reports indicate most Americans seem perfectly capable of paying their $150 smartphone bills, and there's absolutely no evidence so far that people are cutting broadband services (though it makes for good, scary reading). New broadband subscriber additions are down, though it has more to do with slow home sales and construction, not because people are reverting to a soul-crushingly slow technology of yesteryear.

The mainstream press seems to forget you need a costly (and increasingly irrelevant) landline for dial-up. If anything, the recession may just accelerate the death of the landline, as people continue to save money by going with VoIP bundles -- or mobile phone only. But is anybody seriously planning on trading in their Surfboard modem for a 56kbps modem? Maybe because of the recession, we should downgrade to a Wildcat! BBS. Who's up for a game of Trade Wars 2000?