AOL Still Has 3.5 Million Dial-Up Users. My Porn Fetishes Are Confused.

The day I got broadband back in 2000 (a term probably now also antiquated) my life was inextricably changed. I began to demand video, porn, music, porn, more porn, and more media at the click of a button. I could never go back. There’s a lot of people on AOL who still have never left.

I Heart Chaos:

For many of us, that distinctive dial-up modem connection noise paired with the window showing the three step AOL connection process is nothing but a fond memory. But for 3.5 million people, it’s still a regular part of their lives and the sound of connecting to the internet. Three and a half million poor souls who may never know the embrace of YouTube or streaming movies on Netflix or downloading gigs of midget porn in one swath.

And the decline from last year – about 630,000 subs – was AOL’s smallest Q3 shrinkage yet, thanks to price promotions that attracted 200,000 more people to an AOL access subscription. This time in 2006 and 2007, AOL was losing 5 million customers a year. According to AOL’s earnings release, the “average paid tenure” of its subscribers was about 10.6 years in Q3, up from about 9.4 years last year. (Of course, some of AOL’s existing access subscribers might not even realize they’re still paying for it.)

But for those who don’t have access to broadband, don’t want it, or don’t need it, AOL is still better than no Internet access. Over the past decade, monthly AOL bills haven’t changed that much, on average: From about $18 in 2001 to $19.30 in 2006 to about $17.50 now.

And the best part is that this tiny user base is still AOL’s main source or revenue, as tiny as it might be.

Welcome to the past!