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Does anyone use the 56kbps dialup modems anymore?
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My dad had an at-home tax preparation business that he mostly got out of in the 2005-2006 timeframe.
He did roughly 200 returns a year, and when he was still doing that volume used a software package called Orrtax that was still pretty well stuck in 1990(although of course it was updated every year to reflect new laws, and often several times throughout the year). When I say it was stuck in 1990, I mean it was a blue-on-white text based with no mouse support-all the navigation and input was done through the keyboard. He even had to keep old printers patched up and running, since the program could only "talk" PCL-5 through a parallel port(I haven't kept up with it, but I think the program has only been slightly updated since then to do things like be able to talk to USB printers).
In any case, even after we had broadband, he still used the modem on a daily basis. At the time, all of his electronically filed returns were sent via dial-up, and then updates to the program were sent back while the connection was "open." In the mid-90s, when connection speeds were a lot slower and he was doing a LOT more returns, we would have to block out 2 hours on the phone for him every evening, since any disruption would cause the transmission to fail and he'd have to start from scratch.
You need telephone service with a dial tone.
I'd expect (but can't prove) that a good half of all homes owned by the under 40s in the UK will only keep a landline to get broadband service. They see it as £15 a month for a phone number you don't use, rather than a connection to the BT/LLU data network ... that also comes with a phone line.
Somewhat obscurely I get much faster internet via my iPhone using 4G (or LTE for the colonials) which speedtests at around 35Mb up and downstream. Perversely I only get a couple of gigabytes tethering allowance on the contract, but unlimited use via the handset. A bit annoying when the phone insists I use WiFi to download big apps/updates as it's slower!
Lazy iPhone owners. I really should buy a separate 2G data card for PocketPC and go old school.
UK has contract phone plans? From what I have read is that the US is the only country in the world who has primarily Contract cell phone plans where as all other countries use and dominate in prepaid
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for kicks, Is there a SSP for an eMac?
Yep, always has done to my knowledge. Pay as you go where you chuck £10 on when it runs out (prepaid in US Engish?) was popular for about 10 years until traditional phones fell out of favour and the mass market transitioned to smartphones. That said I'm on a SIM only month by month deal with an unlocked phone.
Go off on a lazy smartphone user tourettes syndrome rant and I'll have you RTM'd.
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internet in the us has actually been around since the 80s and it use to be
It was here at Universities. I just happened to start my course around the time the first WWW browsers came out. Cello FTW...
yep, always has done to my knowledge. Pay as you go where you chuck £10 on when it runs out (prepaid in us engish?) was popular for about 10 years until traditional phones fell out of favour and the mass market transitioned to smartphones. That said i'm on a sim only month by month deal with an unlocked phone.
Go off on a lazy smartphone user tourettes syndrome rant and i'll have you rtm'd.
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it was here at universities. I just happened to start my course around the time the first www browsers came out. Cello ftw...
rtm?
Haven't used a dial-up modem since 2000. We got broadband when we moved to Houston in 2001. Back then, 768 Kbps was considered broadband. These days, you have to subscribe to 25 Mbps or better to be able to say you have broadband. In my company's service area, we have fiber run to each subscriber's home. An ONT (media converter) converts the light to electricity because service is delivered inside the home via Cat5e wiring. Phone, Internet, and TV service are delivered to the home through a single fiber optic cable that's as thin as a human hair. Cool stuff. I get nervous working with fiber, though. It's super easy to break if bent too much. But, fiber's tensile strength is amazing.
For a while-around the mid-2000s-there were a lot of companies that would give you at least some limited connectivity(generally something like 10-20 hours a month) for free. From my finding, they aren't around anymore.
I know it's hard to believe, but I actually still have a landline
My sister (a not-well-off high school teacher,) had NetZero until they finally shut down their free dial-up service. Then she finally switched to the local phone company's $14.99/month dirt slow DSL service.
(And a quick search turns up that NetZero still has a page for free dial-up! But it's broken, when you try to keep going, it only lets you sign up for mobile phone service, not dial-up internet.)
I also have a landline, although the quality of late has been terrible. Landlines have the great advantage that (if you have a wired phone,) they are completely independent of power - so if your house's power goes out, your phone line is still live.
I'm sure people still use landline and modems to fax . I remember using the modems to connect to the university back in the 90's. It was convenient since it beats having to drive to the engineering lab to do the programs on their green and b/w wyse terminals. Even 28.8k was pretty fast when programming on DEC Alpha , SUN, and Linux Servers.
1. They are a cell carrier now?
2. There is actually a video online on how to make a transformer to UP the voltage from 40-50V to 100V to power a small thing (such as a cordless phone or a desk lamp)