Dial-up Internet Connections

People are still using Dial-up Internet connections it seems.

One of my "computer shy" flock asked me to hook up her AOL Internet connection for her.

AOL has caused many of friends, colleagues, and friendly colleagues *a lot* of problems over the years so I advised her against signing up for that particular "service".

But Kay persisted so I plugged my nose and dove into the Dial-up abyss for the first time in 10 years.

As I expected, the CD that my computer shy friend got in the mail did not work as promised. Once installed on her computer, the AOL program tried to get her to agree to pay $25.99 per month for dial-up service.

This was a far cry from the $9.99 that my friend was told she would pay. Being on a fixed income, she got quite upset when the $25.99 charge popped up on the screen.

(77 years on this planet has done nothing to dim her vulture's eyesight - she spotted the inflated charge from across the room!)

Kay told me that everybody in her (low income) senior residence got one of these AOL CDs in the mail. I try not to think about how many folks would up paying $25.99 a month for the worst Internet Service on Earth.

I called AOL tech support on her behalf. To be fair, I didn't have to wait very long (although I did have to call 3 tech support numbers) and the AOL customer service rep (they are outsourcing to India I think) was very polite and knowledgeable.

Through his guidance I was able to get my friend's AOL Internet up and crawling in a few minutes --- at the agreed upon cost of $9.99.

I was very careful to bypass the *ahem* AOL extras (i.e. spyware) that would "enhance" my friend's web surfing experiences.

But I really feel sorry for seniors (who AOL is obviously targeting) who try to go through this set up procedure on their own. It ain't what you'd call easy and they may well end up paying much more than they want or can afford to.

I hadn't used AOL since 1997 or so and the experience has not improved with age. I certainly can't recommend AOL for computer beginners as the AOL screens add more layers of complexity to an already complicated and arcane procedure.

Oh, and the wait time for my own humble homepage to download was excruciating! Five minutes of my life I'll never get back!