Gizmodo Australia » dialup

How Broke Would You Have to Be to Revert Back to Dial-Up?

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:00:00 +0000

In an effort to cut costs wherever possible, some consumers are going back to the cheaper, crappier-in-every-way dial-up we all cast aside years ago. This recession has just gotten serious.

Sales of the often sub-$US10 dial-up subscriptions have increased after the stock market crash and many report that they’ve switched from broadband, though NetZero CEO Mark Goldston was quick to note that “this is not the iPod crowd we’re talking about.” Chances are if you’re reading this, you’re more likely to try to pawn your oven than give up broadband, but where exactly does it fall on your list of priorities? Would you give up a cable TV or Xbox Live subscription first? Let us know exactly how poor you’d have to be to go back to dial-up in the comments. [Orlando Sentinel via Crunchgear]

Broadband Finally Overtakes Dial-Up In Australia

Nick Broughall — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:33:41 +0000

Remember dial-up internet? That incredibly slow and awkward way that you used to use to access the internet back in the 90s and early naughties? Well, it’s still around, although it is dying a slow and painful death.

the good news is that the Australian Bureau of Statistics has announced that for the very first time, Broadband has overtaken dial-up as the method of choice for Australian consumers to access ~~porn~~ the Internet.

If the concept of people still using dial-up offends your geeky sensibilities (like it does ours), then you can take solace in the fact that these results – published today – are actually from 2006-2007, and are in comparison to results from 2004-2005.

From the ABS Report Australian Social Trends 2008:

In just two years, the rate of Broadband Internet connections increased from 16% of Australian households in 2004-05 to 43% in 2006-07, becoming more prevalent than dial-up connections (20% of households in 2006-07) for the first time. Broadband now accounts for between one-half and two-thirds of all Internet connections at home across almost all demographic groups and geographic areas.

It’s weird. Despite the fact that they address the rapid uptake of broadband as a technology, they seem to forget that technology is advancing a lot faster than other areas statistics cover. Those results are well over 12 months old – by now I would assume that 60-70 percent of households would have broadband, and by the time the next report comes out, it should be up in the 90 percent range. Dial up today is most likely a relic from an ancient time, not 20% of the market.

Which makes this whole report a bit of a waste of time (for us here today – it’s still important from a historical perspective). Hopefully one day we’ll see real-time statistics so we can report on current events…

[Australian Bureau of Statistics]

Experience the Joys of Constant Lag With Xbox Live on Dial-Up

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:30:00 +0000

For you poor, poor souls who own an Xbox 360 but still rely on dial-up for your internet, an intrepid Instructables member has written up a great “How To” on using your phone line to log onto Xbox Live. All you need is a PC running Windows with a working dial-up connection, an ethernet cable and an Xbox360 (duh). Yes! Now even those of us still riding along the 56.6K information dirt trail will be able to download new Rock Band tracks! [Instructables]