  CheesePremium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
kudos:1 | Dialup is dead for the most part.... And they want to buy MORE dead companies, and they are sinking like the titanic?  | |
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 |  AuthorityObama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Woodland Hills, CA | Re: Dialup is dead for the most part.... I keep telling people to dump Earthlink NOW before they disappear overnight!
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OS X on a PC? Yup! »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86 | |
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| | | | Re: Dialup is dead for the most part.... why don't you put a short on the stock? | |
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| | | AuthorityObama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Woodland Hills, CA
4 edits | Re: Dialup is dead for the most part.... said by backness:why don't you put a short on the stock? You know you're right. It's no longer a question of "if" they'll disappear but "when". The only question is the timing.
Don't get me wrong, in its day Mindspring/Earthlink was one of the best but their dial-up market has evaporated and every attempt they've made to replace it (wifi, cellular, broadband) has failed. There's really nothing left but a death watch.
Smart consumers should switch NOW before waking up without internet service or access to email. I've helped two switch this week (not easy talking to India) to AT&T and BOTH got faster speeds at lower prices to boot. Earthlink RIP.
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OS X on a PC? Yup! »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86 | |
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| |  OlegBellsouth FastaccessPremium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | said by Authority:I keep telling people to dump Earthlink NOW before they disappear overnight! They won't listen. | |
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| | | I guess I should root for them since they're based here in Atlanta, but I just can't see that happening. Ever since they had killed a great company (MindSpring), it all went downhill from there. They must be the new AOL.
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| Sigma Phi Epsilon | My Ride | | |
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| OlegBellsouth FastaccessPremium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | When there is will be no EarthLink and AOL computer newbies will freak out  | |
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| | Rob_Premium
join:2008-07-16
Mary Esther, FL | Re: Dialup is dead for the most part.... WRONG. a lot of people in RURAL areas can not get anything but dial up. so, do not say it's dead. it won't be.
you try moving out in the country (especially in virgina) and see about getting broadband.
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»www.cband.info come join our IRC chat room and meet some new friends and listen to some good radio. We don't bite unless it's a piece of steak! | |
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| | | CheesePremium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
kudos:1 | Re: Dialup is dead for the most part.... said by Rob_:WRONG. a lot of people in RURAL areas can not get anything but dial up. so, do not say it's dead. it won't be. you try moving out in the country (especially in virgina) and see about getting broadband. I said it was dead dead for the most part, it is a dying technology regardless | |
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| | |  MysticGogetaThe Robot DevilPremium
join:2005-03-14
League City, TX | said by Rob_:WRONG. a lot of people in RURAL areas can not get anything but dial up. so, do not say it's dead. it won't be. you try moving out in the country (especially in virgina) and see about getting broadband. There is satellite also..
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Team Discovery-Join the fight | |
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| | | | StojkoPremium
join:2007-10-20
St John's NL Reviews:
 ·voip.ms
 ·NBTel now Aliant
·FreePhoneLine
| Re: Dialup is dead for the most part.... said by MysticGogeta:said by Rob_:WRONG. a lot of people in RURAL areas can not get anything but dial up. so, do not say it's dead. it won't be. you try moving out in the country (especially in virgina) and see about getting broadband. There is satellite also.. Satellite isn't always a viable option. Latency, reliability, customer service, "fair usage policies" and price are major issues. | |
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| | | StojkoPremium
join:2007-10-20
St John's NL Reviews:
·voip.ms
·NBTel now Aliant
·FreePhoneLine
| said by Rob_:WRONG. a lot of people in RURAL areas can not get anything but dial up. so, do not say it's dead. it won't be. you try moving out in the country (especially in virgina) and see about getting broadband. I know. I'm stuck on dialup as well. | |
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| | A for effort against a stacked deck of politicians, the FCC and the incumbents, Earthlink tried like hell to make a go of it.
gotta give em props for trying. | |
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|  DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | Re: A for effort This is what happens when gov't is for sale to the highest bidder. | |
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|  PhoenixDown-- Wants FIOSPremium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
kudos:1 | I agree - they weren't afraid to get their feet wet and the ideas generally weren't bad ones - if any or all of them took off, we'd be looking at a very successful company. | |
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|  jsimmonsPremium,MVM
join:2000-04-24
Falls Church, VA
2 edits | Re: A barely animated corpse indeed said by djrobx:For a brief stint they wrangled a 1500/384 package out of Covad that was better than what the majority of telcos were offering at the time, but it was never really advertised. It was a GREAT DSL service - I know... I had it for a few years. At that time Earthlink was buying up small ISP's who tried to make a go of it in DSL land.
It was a great option until Cox cable blew it away in my area - both price wise and performance wise. I haven't looked back. Sorry to see them on such a downward spiral, though.
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"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."
- Albert Einstein
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| AuthorityObama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Woodland Hills, CA | said by djrobx:Good ISPs like Sonic.net and DSLExtreme show that there is still a market for the independents if you keep your customers in mind. They've got no future either. Why would any intelligent person buy from an ISP that has to buy from the telephone company anyway? Have you ever tried calling Earthlink or DSLExtreme for service? They put you on hold and call the phone company. It's a joke.
Cut out the middle man, get a better deal, and better service. | |
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|  bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA
1 edit | said by djrobx:Earthlink started out in Glendale, CA. It used to be one of those small independent ISPs that you looked to for good service. Actually, I think it was Los Feliz (or maybe Glendale on Los Feliz Blvd.). I called them and went down there to pick up my welcome kit. Some kid named Sky handed it to me. Little did I know who he was or what would come of the venture and his life. I used to call in and get tech support from a guy named Jay. Turns out he owned about half of ELNK that was started by Sky and himself after they sold a gourmet coffee shop they had (something like Starbucks I guess). I heard he sold his interest and moved down under to play music.
--
There is not a man in the country that can't make a living for himself and family. But he can't make a living for them AND his government, the way his government is living. What the government has got to do is live as cheap as the people.
- Will Rogers | |
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| | | | Re: A barely animated corpse indeed That's a pretty neat story. | |
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| | Hey, don't knock it Any other ideas? Resuscitate the "Juice Boosted" brand? Start selling flowers like United Online? LMAO - The State of Pennsylvania has been investing in buggy whip technology (old people) for decades. In fact, residents don't matter to the State Legislature unless you're 65 or older. | |
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|  cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:5
 ·Frontier FiOS
| Re: Hey, don't knock it said by SilverSurfer1:LMAO - The State of Pennsylvania has been investing in buggy whip technology... Poor choice of phrases. Pennsylvania has the highest population in the country of Amish, followed up by Ohio and Indiana. If you are going to invest anywhere in buggy whips, that is exactly the best place to do so.
Similarly, Earthlink's core competency is dialup. As many others here pointed out, a lot of rural America can't get broadband and won't have access to it for a long time to come. With Verizon et al switching to fiber and more advanced forms of broadband, I honestly don't expect a lot of rural areas to suddenly start seeing deployments near them. | |
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| | Why Earthlink is doing the right thing. Earthlink has the infrastructure to keep dial up going. What Earthlink should do is buy AOL's dialup subscribers, and manage that. There are still many rural areas without internet or where internet would be very expensive. A lot of us don't realize how fortunate we are to be in a big city or in a suburb of a city.
Earthlink does have phone customers. However Earthlink is worth a fraction of the its price. I put it along side Packet 8, in terms of survival. One of the things about Earthlink is that its a smaller company and that might help in terms of privacy issues; We should support Earthlink only for the reason as it gives us more choice to move away from existing providers. But other than that I just don't see a reason for Earthlink to exist, and frankly Packet 8 either, however before they go under both will make last ditch efforts to stay alive. | |
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| CheesePremium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
kudos:1 | Re: Why Earthlink is doing the right thing. said by ANON67 :
Earthlink has the infrastructure to keep dial up going. What Earthlink should do is buy AOL's dialup subscribers, and manage that. There are still many rural areas without internet or where internet would be very expensive. A lot of us don't realize how fortunate we are to be in a big city or in a suburb of a city.
Earthlink does have phone customers. However Earthlink is worth a fraction of the its price. I put it along side Packet 8, in terms of survival. One of the things about Earthlink is that its a smaller company and that might help in terms of privacy issues; We should support Earthlink only for the reason as it gives us more choice to move away from existing providers. But other than that I just don't see a reason for Earthlink to exist, and frankly Packet 8 either, however before they go under both will make last ditch efforts to stay alive.
More choice to move away? I don't really think they have much to offer anyone at this point. | |
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| | | This could only be a short term (maybe 5 years) to keep them afloat. Eventually they will have to find another way to make money. | |
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| ncbillPremium
join:2007-01-23
Winston Salem, NC | vtisp.com offers 150 hours/month of dialup for $40/year, even in the middle of nowhere where our mountain cabin is located.
I can't see how Earthlink can compete with that and make any money. | |
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 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | As long as 20% of the population lives in area where ISPs show ZERO interest in providing broadband and where the only internet is dial-up, overpriced and crappy satelite and/or overpriced and crappy mobile internet, dial-up will have customers. | |
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|  tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:5
·Fairpoint Commun..
 ·Hollis Hosting
| Re: As long as 20% said by BF69:dial-up will have customers. While dialup will become an ever smaller percentage of First-Mile access mix it ought to be a viable business for years to come. It still is the most universal access you can get.
I maintained a dialup account for several years after I had broadband as a fallback. After a while decided to drop it as an unnecessary expense. Broadband has been very reliable and when outages occurred slow transfer rate of dialup was painful.
/tom | |
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| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: As long as 20% The funny thing is ther are 25+ million households with basically dial-up as the ony choice. well last time I checked 25 milion is far more customers than the largest ISP has. Now I'm not saying every household in the boonies will get dial-up. I just don't get why ISP which are having a hard time getting new customers from existing areas are just basically telling potentially 25 million new customers to go F themselves. Sure lower profit margin, but last time I checked profit is profit. Say they would only make $1 profit per customer per month. Well that would be $25 million a month or $300 million a year. Wow, that must really suck to "only" make $300 million a year. Seriously I'm not sure how the ISPs CEOs got their jobs. | |
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| AuthorityObama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Woodland Hills, CA | said by BF69:of the population lives in area where ISPs show ZERO interest in providing broadband and where the only internet is dial-up, overpriced and crappy satelite and/or overpriced and crappy mobile internet, dial-up will have customers. They CHOOSE to live there. What is it with people that they think they can live in the middle of nowhere and expect the same services as those who live in the city? What will they want next, 24 hour Chinese food delivery? Living in the country and demanding broadband is like living in the city and demanding silence. It ain't gonna happen.
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OS X on a PC? Yup! »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86 | |
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| |  RR ConductorHappy 40th AmtrakPremium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
kudos:1
4 edits | Re: As long as 20% said by Authority:said by BF69:of the population lives in area where ISPs show ZERO interest in providing broadband and where the only internet is dial-up, overpriced and crappy satelite and/or overpriced and crappy mobile internet, dial-up will have customers. They CHOOSE to live there. What is it with people that they think they can live in the middle of nowhere and expect the same services as those who live in the city? What will they want next, 24 hour Chinese food delivery? Living in the country and demanding broadband is like living in the city and demanding silence. It ain't gonna happen. How about cities providing their own food, water and power, I mean, what is it with cities expecting others to grow their food for them, make their power and give them their water, I mean, really...bunch of helpless whiners...You guys choose to live there, take care of yourselves.
Sarcasm off, I was born and raised in SoCal, in the Covina area, and now live in rural Mendocino County (Redwood Valley) up here north of the Bay Area, so I can speak to both sides of this issue. There is one certainty, urban users often have NO clue about rural areas' needs, you just proved that point. We also often get the shaft from urban areas, they take our water and even steal our money, and we have to scratch and fight for every penny we get, yet we rural areas feed, water and power the nation, hmm. I wonder, when was the last time Beverly Hills had millions ripped away from them, after being approved because some urban rep whined and cried that they should get it all and rural areas deserve nothing? I thought not.
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»www.amtrak.com
»www.amtrakcalifornia.com
»www.narprail.org
»www.freighrailworks.org
»www.up.com
»www.bnsf.com
»www.northcoastrailroad.org | |
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| |  elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO | said by Authority:said by BF69:of the population lives in area where ISPs show ZERO interest in providing broadband and where the only internet is dial-up, overpriced and crappy satelite and/or overpriced and crappy mobile internet, dial-up will have customers. They CHOOSE to live there. What is it with people that they think they can live in the middle of nowhere and expect the same services as those who live in the city? What will they want next, 24 hour Chinese food delivery? Living in the country and demanding broadband is like living in the city and demanding silence. It ain't gonna happen. maybe they should just stop growing food for you city folk
you know you CHOOSE to live in the city you can grow your own food am i right? | |
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| | | AuthorityObama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Woodland Hills, CA | Re: As long as 20% OK you know how dumb you're being right?
People who live in the city PAY fair market value for food. They're not asking for anything for free.
Rural markets for some reason feel the rest of us should pay for them to have broadband even through they CHOOSE to live in areas where it's not economical to do so.
Frankly, I don't mind buying my food from farmer Joe at whatever the market price may be, but I'm not for running fiber to him so he can get his porn faster. | |
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| | | |  John GaltForward, MarchPremium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
kudos:3 | Re: As long as 20% said by Authority:Frankly, I don't mind buying my food from farmer Joe at whatever the market price may be, but I'm not for running fiber to him so he can get his porn faster. The solution here is obvious: Farmer Joe should raise the price of food so that them CitySlickers will be begging to run some fiber to those damn farmers so they will sell him some food.
The way I see it...Farmer Joe can go a WHOLE lot longer without fiber than them CitySlickers can go without food.
Bet cha, beotches...
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A is A | |
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| | | | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by Authority:OK you know how dumb you're being right? People who live in the city PAY fair market value for food. They're not asking for anything for free. Show me ONE post where anyone suggest that people in the boonies would get FREE broadband? Are people in the boonies getting FREE electricity and FREE phone service? No.
I'm not sure why you are equating building out broadband as meaning FREE internet. | |
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| | | | | | said by Authority:Rural markets for some reason feel the rest of us should pay for them to have broadband even through they CHOOSE to live in areas where it's not economical to do so. Frankly, I don't mind buying my food from farmer Joe at whatever the market price may be, but I'm not for running fiber to him so he can get his porn faster. A little history lesson:
The government subsidized both electricity and phone service to rural America because it was good for the country overall. Google "rural electrification". Heck, the dirty secret is that the subsidies continue in some areas, long after they are no longer needed.
As for profits, companies are known for going for the best and most the quickest. As technology improves, costs come down, and sooner or later the profit margins in the rural areas will be more attractive. But, government subsidy could jump start that process which might long term be better for the country.
Oh, and I'm a conservative who generally hates government spending and subsidies. | |
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| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by Authority:said by BF69:of the population lives in area where ISPs show ZERO interest in providing broadband and where the only internet is dial-up, overpriced and crappy satellite and/or overpriced and crappy mobile internet, dial-up will have customers. They CHOOSE to live there. What is it with people that they think they can live in the middle of nowhere and expect the same services as those who live in the city? What will they want next, 24 hour Chinese food delivery? Living in the country and demanding broadband is like living in the city and demanding silence. It ain't gonna happen. So what if they choose to live there? That's like saying they never should have had phone electricity or running watrer installed because that was a money losing proposition for those companies to begin with too.
The thing is people that live in the city always say "if you want broadband move to the city" Do you REALLY want that? I live in a small city about 4000. About 25% of my county's population lives her. Most everyone outside city limits doesn't have broadband. Now if the other 12,000 move to the city to get broadband there is no way we have the infrastructure to accommodate that sudden population increase. The increase in taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements would be several times more than the cost of providing broadband to these people and keep them out in the boonies. And the same thing would happen where you live.
Perhaps you need to REALLY use your brain and think about the BIGGER picture before spouting off. | |
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| | | AuthorityObama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Woodland Hills, CA | Re: As long as 20% said by BF69:said by Authority:said by BF69:of the population lives in area where ISPs show ZERO interest in providing broadband and where the only internet is dial-up, overpriced and crappy satellite and/or overpriced and crappy mobile internet, dial-up will have customers. They CHOOSE to live there. What is it with people that they think they can live in the middle of nowhere and expect the same services as those who live in the city? What will they want next, 24 hour Chinese food delivery? Living in the country and demanding broadband is like living in the city and demanding silence. It ain't gonna happen. So what if they choose to live there? That's like saying they never should have had phone electricity or running watrer installed because that was a money losing proposition for those companies to begin with too. The thing is people that live in the city always say "if you want broadband move to the city" Do you REALLY want that? I live in a small city about 4000. About 25% of my county's population lives her. Most everyone outside city limits doesn't have broadband. Now if the other 12,000 move to the city to get broadband there is no way we have the infrastructure to accommodate that sudden population increase. The increase in taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements would be several times more than the cost of providing broadband to these people and keep them out in the boonies. And the same thing would happen where you live. Perhaps you need to REALLY use your brain and think about the BIGGER picture before spouting off. I believe in free markets and paying for what you want. No, I'm not suggesting everyone move to the city. I AM saying that wherever you choose to live you accept the good and the bad. If you live in the city you deal with congestion but you gain access to more goods and services. If you choose to live in the country you gain space, privacy, and lower costs but you give up some access to modern conveniences. That's life.
I have thought myself about moving to an area that has FIOS... I sure don't expect people to give it to me.
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OS X on a PC? Yup! »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86 | |
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| | | | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: As long as 20% said by Authority:I believe in free markets and paying for what you want. No, I'm not suggesting everyone move to the city. I AM saying that wherever you choose to live you accept the good and the bad. You need to look at the REAL world. Not fantasyland. If the only food was in the city guess what, all the people in the country would move into the city and create HUGE problems. Now broadband isn't as important as food, but the point is still valid if something becomes important enough people will go to where it's at. So to dismiss that reality is foolish and naive.
What if electricity didn't come to the boonies? Would people still be in the boonies? No they would all be in the city voer crowding it even more. Wa it profitable to put electricity and phone service out in the boonies? Hell no.
Oh and if you think there is really a "free market" when it comes to internet then you are a fool and/or naive.
I have thought myself about moving to an area that has FIOS... I sure don't expect people to give it to me.
Who suggested they wouldn't have to PAY for their internet access? No one. Fact is if they invested in broadband in the boonies and even if only 20% took advantage of it and even if they only made $1 per month per customer profit that's still $50 million minimum PROFIT per year. This is bad how? | |
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| | | | | | | Re: As long as 20% said by BF69:Fact is if they invested in broadband in the boonies and even if only 20% took advantage of it and even if they only made $1 per month per customer profit that's still $50 million minimum PROFIT per year. This is bad how? Please back this up.
If it were true that ISPs would generate $50 million minimum profit in the first year, they would have already deployed broadband to rural areas. The fact that they haven't demonstrates that it isn't a money-making proposition. ISPs aren't out to get people who live in rural areas, they're out to make the most money they can - and, they have every right to do so.
Are you proposing that ISPs somehow be forced to deploy broadband in rural markets, or are you simply saying that it would be nice if they did so on their own? If it's the latter, than I think we can all agree. However, I strongly disagree with the notion that they should be required to deploy in rural areas. That would mean higher prices for us all.
--
The Atheist Community of Austin
God is just pretend.
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Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
| Should I stay or should I go? I've tried to be loyal to ELNK despite a series of faux-pas from their sales dept compounded by the castration of a once excellent Tech support line. I need an ISP that is going to be around even if it is Comcast (yuck) to keep me afloat working form home. Right now I'm provisioned by ELNK through COVAD, getting about a 2.3Mbit/300Kbit service. It's "fairly stable except the frequent loss of sync of my VOIP ATA router. Rumors abound on the demise of ELNK as well as COVAD but nothing from ELNK formally.
Arghhh... The thought of re-provisioning and changing an email I've had for 10 years is a daunting thought. | |
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DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
1 edit | Well which is it? We endlessly hear about how the US sucks because broadband deployment is horrible, yet in the next breath we hear that a company that sells dial up is doomed? The only thing that has changed is that ELN can't sell their services over next gen BB like FiOS or U-Verse. Yep, everyone has that
The reason ELN was bombing is because as previously mentioned their customer service sucked while they still tried to charge $50 for DSL everyone else was charging $20-$40 for. | |
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| | | Re: Well which is it? said by Dogfather:We endlessly hear about how the US sucks because broadband deployment is horrible, yet in the next breath we hear that a company that sells dial up is doomed? We do have horrible broadband development. But over time, broad band will expand, and people will begin to switch over. (I certainly would if broadband was avaible where I live. I have PeoplePC...) And because of that a dial up only company will fail to survive.
If a dial up company were located in Japan right now, do you think they'd have any hopes of surviving? Here they have a chance. | |
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| | DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | Re: Well which is it? said by HackedServer:If a dial up company were located in Japan right now, do you think they'd have any hopes of surviving? Here they have a chance. You think there are no dial-up providers in Japan? | |
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| | maybe With caps coming to cable and dsl, alot of people will flip back. People want a set price not 60 then 110 a month for the same service.
why is there a high turn over rate on cell phones. same thing | |
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| |  R&D
Sadly, I don't think that dream will ever be realized.
--
"True Patriotism is more closely linked with dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security...I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist abusive state power." -Ron Paul | |
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| BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: R&D said by Fox McCloud:perhaps they should invest in a really good engineering team to recover the last few bits lost with v.92 so they can come up with a v.9X (or whatever) that supports 64 kilobits down and XX kilobits up. Sadly, I don't think that dream will ever be realized. viturally no differnce between 64 Kbps and 53.3 Kbps( highest speed legally allowed ). 28 MB downloaded over 1 hour vs 23 MB. Or 19.8 GB downloaded in a month 24/7 vs 16.5 GB. Big deal. | |
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| | | | Re: R&D tell that to the person who's been stuck on dial-up the past 10 years...When I had dial-up, I would have gladly taken 8 KB/s over 6.6 KB/s
It's a shame the FCC has put limitations on the phone companies to tone down their power (thus limiting us to 53.3)--in a few countries you can actually hit 56.0kbps
lobbying the FCC to remove that limit would be a good first step.
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"True Patriotism is more closely linked with dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security...I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist abusive state power." -Ron Paul | |
|
 TMMerlinThe Devil made me do it
join:2003-06-19
Oxford, MI
·EarthLink
·AT&T U-Verse
| Knock on wood ! EL customer for 12 years ..kindah neat with @mindspring.com. Nostalgic of the "good ole days".
#30/mo for DSL ..never installed any of their software, well once and then I deleted it ..I do a better portal job myself.
So .. every 14 months I call them and say "Hey .. renew me again for 12 months and give me my 2 month Customer Appreciation credit"..which they gladly do and then start the 12 month clock, again.
Oh well ..nice and solid DSL line ..seldom have any trouble.
I hope dial-up works for them ..that way I can keep my very stable DSL service and of course ...@mindspring.com...
--
Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy but they become legend. | |
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| Reviews:
·magicjack.com
1 edit | Re: Knock on wood ! said by TMMerlin:Oh well ..nice and solid DSL line ..seldom have any trouble. Same here. I'm at the outer edge of DSL availability. I was happy when EL could give me DSL back in 2001. My speed was something like 128kbs. Today it's about 300kbs. I don't need much speed. And, I like that it's constant (not competing with a bunch of users on the same cable loop during prime-time).
But, I'm planning to cancel in 1-3 months. I'm leaving for 3 months overseas. I'll cancel EL and my phone. $65 a month. When I return I'll get Cox cable for $25 a month. I can use a combination of cell and VOIP for phone service.
I just can't justify paying $65 a month. I also like the idea that I can cancel Cox whenever I want, and then resume a few months later (I spend a lot of time out of the country). No contracts. So, I can save $75 over three months like that. Where, with EL and Qwest, I'd pay $190 because I can't easily turn those services off and on.
Mark | |
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tcopePremium
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT
kudos:1 | Slowing Dying Was a Mindspring customer from dial-up to DSL. Then Earthlink bought them out. Earthlink quickly dug their own grave. When your claim to fame is good customer service and you choose to outsource it and don't change with your customer base, you're going to loose out. But the nail in the coffin was that they saw it coming and _still_ choose to ignore it. Fat CEO's collected a huge paycheck and let the company swirl the drain. The were 1/2 down the drain when they thought about trying something different. But at that point, they had nothing so they choose to go for really long shots. Of course it did not pan out.
Here is a no-brainer... what do they have left other then dial-up. So of course they are going to focus on it... they have nothing else left! | |
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| | I have a question about dialup...the tech... Because I'm just dying to learn something new. Maybe I'm giving away the next multi billion dollar business idea, but...eh, whatever.
Can someone help me understand why some plucky nerd does not try to make dialup handle more data across the same phone line? Basically, enhance dialup modem technology to handle more baud, figure out better compression ratios or something. Is it that it can't be done?
Theoretically...if some guy managed to get a modem kicking 384kbps over a dialup connection, said guy would literally change the face of internet access over a few years. To have speeds that fast with the versatility of dialup networking...? | |
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 TransmasterDon't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | Earthlink 5 years in the future At the Head Quarters of EarthLink in the year 2013 we see a meeting of the board of Directors of the Earthlink the last dial-up Internet provider.
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Send a prayer to Allah, eat Beans. | |
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| | | Re: Earthlink 5 years in the future ...and you think thats funny? A+ for taking your time to post the pic. | |
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Reviews:
 ·Charter
| Earthlinks relevance left...... ... for india, with their support staff.
When will companies learn? If you outsource support for pennies on the dollar then pennies on the dollar is all folks will be willing to pay you for your crummy service.
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Fed Up With Stupidity?
Patentlystupid.com | |
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 RickPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT | I used to think that dialup was going to die a relatively quick and painful death. I've rethought that position however over the years. Having gotten to know my cousin better I've realized that people like her will never switch from dialup. Well, I shouldn't say never..she did in fact do it once...went to RR..and then went BACK to dialup..saying it was fine by her.
Actually, I'm not sure she ever really cancelled the dialup to begin with. Or, at the very least..when she went back..they gave her everything back..email address included...to make her feel right at home again.
I'm starting to think there may be something that addicts her to that modem noise. I once showed her how to silence it and with a sad look in her eyes she pleaded with me to bring it back. And, forget anything but her ISP's homepage. It's all she ever needs and surfing consists of practically never leaving it. But granny I asked..(we affectionately call her Granny)...wasn't RR so much faster? Always on and accessible? Well..yea. I guess so rick she'd say. But I miss my other connection.
How can you argue with that? Debate that point? I mean..when you've been there..done that..and still want what you had. ..you just have to resign yourself to the fact that she'll never leave it.
And so, it will probably take her passing in a few decades to ever change that. To change the minds of people like her as well.
Dial up die? Not in my lifetime it won't.
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The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic! | |
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| | It's not so bad. It's not that ridiculous. They know the business won't last forever, but then there are a lot of businesses like that. You can invest in a Canadian Oil Trust that has access to a well with 10-years left of oil before it runs out. Is that a stupid investment just because it will one day be depleted? Not necessarily. If you can get out more than you've invested over the expected lifetime of the asset, then it's a win.
What's a mistake is grasping for straws (muni wifi, helio) that just prove to be money holes.
»www.thestalwart.com | |
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|  sechsPremium
join:2001-07-19
Left Coast | Re: It's not so bad. said by JosephWeisenthal :
It's not that ridiculous. They know the business won't last forever, but then there are a lot of businesses like that. Like the POTS that it runs on, it's a profitable but shrinking business. | |
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axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
| I still pay for Earthlink dialup Though I don't use it for myself, I'll give the username/password/phone number to relatives and friends who are travelling and need a dialup number. And if something happens to my 'net access at home, I'll have a backup. I'm paying $12 a month (I think?). And yes, I like the modem noise. | |
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|  antdudeA Ninja AntPremium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
kudos:2
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: I still pay for Earthlink dialup said by axus:Though I don't use it for myself, I'll give the username/password/phone number to relatives and friends who are travelling and need a dialup number. And if something happens to my 'net access at home, I'll have a backup. I'm paying $12 a month (I think?). And yes, I like the modem noise. Same here as a backup since my TWC RR isn't stable.  $9.95 isn't bad for 10 hours. I can go unlimited at any time if needed for $21.95. | |
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| | Earthlink for Seniors A lot of seniors think dial-up is just fine, and they are a group that is growing. Earthlink could do very well by positioning itself to serve this market. There are even no-frills cell phone (with large numbers) marketed to seniors, and it doesn't take much imagination to see someone figuring out how to link these two markets together. | |
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| | Apple and EL Earthlink had a tie-in with Apple Computer for a time. When I bought an early iMac included was an invitation to join Earthlink for an ISP. I did and they were all right.
Then along came Flashcom (DSL) and it was bye-bye Earthlink. | |
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