Announced only a few weeks ago but long in coming, AOL's dial-up internet service dies today. The "final screech" is nigh, writes Rob Wile, lamenting the modem's last gasp.

At its peak, AOL counted more than 20 million users and in 2000 became part of the largest corporate deal in history when it merged with Time Warner in a deal that gave the combined companies a value of approximately $350 billion. But as broadband internet became more accessible — and as a host of more sophisticated web browsers came on the scene — AOL began shedding users. In 2021, it was sold along with Yahoo — with which it had merged after both were acquired by Verizon — for $5 billion to the private equity giant Apollo.

With sadness I can verify that https://getonline.aol.com/dialup now redirects to the homepage.

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