"You've got mail!"

I recently learned that the Internet service provider America Online (AOL) officially ended their dial-up Internet service this past week.  It's hard to believe that dial-up Internet was the most common (and only) way that individuals accessed the Internet in the early days.  Even now, I can hear the screeching sound of my computer trying to establish a connection, followed by a ping and a computer voice announcing, "You've got mail!"  The phrase became so popular that it ended up being the title of a 1998 romantic/comedy movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

At its peak, AOL had more than 20 million users (including our family, who still has an AOL email address).  The company merged with Time Warner in 2000, which at the time was the largest corporate deal in history, creating a media conglomerate worth over $350 billion.  As broadband Internet became more ubiquitous, AOL's users left in droves, until the company was sold with Yahoo to Verizon in 2021.

I was also surprised to learn that AOL still has approximately 163,000 users, most of which live in rural areas where there is no broadband Internet.  It is, indeed, the passing of an important era in media history.  And for that matter, AOL represents an important part of our nation's history.  Farewell dial-up Internet.  And thank you.