stgiga (they/them) :polygender_verify:@stgiga@blahaj.zone
@Tooden@aus.social @ernie@writing.exchange @mattl@social.coop
Remember, there are PLENTY of government communications or even outright bills that go paperless even in regions where doing so requires an Internet connection that isn't the fast speeds you find in certain places. Imagine not being able to get a notice from your county because AOL goes out. You could face legal issues there. Or not being able to contact your boss at McDonald's to tell them you're sick/hurt and am taking medical leave. Imagine not being able to reply to job emails because AOL is gone. No, this shutoff WILL fuck the absolute most desperate and secluded Americans over, even if it sounds like progress eliminating dialup, it's NOT. Take it from me, someone who grew up on painfully-slow Internet. Also a LOT of people born in shitty rural areas DO move out, but a job kerfluffle like this type is just going to make the act of even getting out a LOT harder than it needs to be. No, AOL was absolutely in the wrong to do this, even though the techbros would say otherwise. Legacy technology still has its purposes, and getting rid of legacy tech that isn't dangerous WILL hurt SO many people. I get not using shit like DES. But when you actively try to get rid of something like dialup, it is a different matter entirely. Some dialup ISPs even did stuff like Modem-On-Hold (call waiting to let you pause a download to talk, not to mention Cathode Ray Dude did a video on modem voice chat) with outright Caller ID, and even compress traffic to slow down load times. NetZero for example does this. And you can approach DSL or at least ISDN speeds with this given how bloated web code can get. So 56K is NOT a hard limit with a nice-enough ISP. You could reasonably use the modern bloated web with an ISP that compresses everything before sending it down the line. One that for instance upgrades all GZip server page compression to Brotli. Like, we CAN have HTML5 and dialup, with the right mix. SVG is cool because it is fairly dialup-safe with compression compared to equivalent-quality logos in many raster formats. I mean even gradients are possible. Icon fonts with Zopfli or Brotli work too. But yeah, the idea of heavy page bandwidth didn't have to work this way, but the resourceful like myself and many of New York's impoverished who use landfilled material to build a home inside disused areas with even electricity and media I think is admirable. You can do so much with so little if you have literally no other options. But we shouldn't have to be this way. As President I'd give the whole nation fast Web. I don't want people to have to go through the things I have.
stgiga (they/them) :polygender_verify:@stgiga@blahaj.zone
@Tooden@aus.social @ernie@writing.exchange @mattl@social.coop
Internet SHOULD be an outright public utility, but at present it isn't, even though communications of a sensitive nature are being relegated to it. I get and support going paperless also for environmental reasons (though trees are renewable, but not all plastics are, and paper and plastic both recycle, some forms of plastic do so better than others, and bioplastic exists, though PLA may still make microplastics, but at least lactic acid is better than forever chemicals), but like with how plastic straws are cherished by people with disabilities in spite of their effects on the environment, people without good access to Internet should be able to do paper and telephone stuff until their areas advance in time.
Not to mention, if you know you will have an outage, workplaces should be willing to do some form of exemption for paperless to be done on paper when there is no help for it and you need to do something during a time where a planned outage is, or if your Internet bill will bounce. Or, say, if you're living out of your car or a shelter, your access to Internet may be spotty. Also this is why van life family channels suck, because their kids will have shittier online school than I already have to deal with, and they can't game like everyone does, not to mention there is no social media privacy. But even then, I met campsite camp hosts who brought a 3G adapter for their computers to their site with the minivan, that site being a State Park before California added WiFi in the late 2010s. I get taking vacations from the web. But at the same time, their existence can fuck over people in the modern work world for the same reason they fuck over people with shit Internet. Also all those software things that require webcams unnecessarily fuck over dialup users. The rural community college in the same district as the one I went to from 2020-2023 has a LOT fewer courses than its siblings because it runs on shitty rural Internet. So all that proctoring and productivity monitoring, and some forms of verification and authentication suddenly become equity issues when dealing with people who literally cannot get good Internet or any good Internet they can get is pricey metered, or even just filtered like school or corporate Internet. Like, those take-home hotspots some places give, IF they work for you. I get security/integrity and all, but they feed into the problem with internet access. Plus the very program my unis did to give certain students technology loaners was slashed. I may not need these, but others DO, and this fund covered poor, disabled, and veteran students. Now these people can't even get dialup, not that it would even be usable given the mandatory 2FA that makes the disability testing center have an outright bone to pick with admin. None of this situation is happy. There are better ways to go about things than cutting funding or cutting dialup. It's straight-up equity fuckovers for the most vulnerable. I know defending dialup in the age of 8K YouTube sounds ridiculous, but it, like it or not, has purposes, and by removing it in the name of technological advances, you're fucking people over. Analog TV under poor reception was still a picture, albeit snowy. Digital ATSC now has cut off SD devices but even before it did, the signal was either working or it wasn't working, no partial signals. So people in areas like mine were completely unable to use anything besides cable or satellite after June 12th, 2009 when the analog shutoff happened. Basically, as of June 12th, 2009, free TV stopped working for us. Then again even AM/FM doesn't reach us here, it's just static. But at least to a point you can hear stuff when driving to us, but I know a digital signal would have a low duty cycle when hitting us. Sometimes the simplest solution IS the best or even only solution. We may be corner cases, but forgetting about us is bad. Oh and why not factor in diversity and inclusion too: My county has a LOT of Native Americans in it, and Natives in the United States earn less. They are disproportionately affected, and yes, they were victims of interracial marriage bans. Now, the Native Americans in my region largely live in a protected area you can't easily develop due to Protected status on the level of payphones still being in use, so they have to use slow Internet. Why shouldn't they be able to go online? Like, basically, at this point, dialup removal is a DEI issue. If you go to the less-rich part of my nearest city, students at the schools there frequently use school hotspots so they don't have to pay extra for online schooling. And I think the reason why POC on the Internet have it worse off can be partially a result of their very Internet access being harder to get, particularly the type that isn't as conducive for hardcore gaming or content creation. If you gave everyone in the United States free high-speed Internet, I wager there would be a LOT more POC content creators, ones who previously could never have afforded the means to show the Internet what they have to bring to society. Internet access, even 56K, IS a DEI issue, and by doing what they're doing, AOL has in fact pulled a DOGE. In the name of "efficiency", they have fucked over the less-fortunate in the United States. It doesn't get more clear-cut than that. If you use AOL, see if you can find stuff like NetZero or Freeola in your region. Many pay-as-you-go dialup places bill to your phone bill based on the length of the call. Also dialup is why many e-mail clients have "Get Mail" in them, and the reason nobody but me combined X-Face types was because it increased call duration.
Basically, an always-on, high-bandwidth e-mail system is a fairly-new thing and still isn't universal. NetZero and Freeola have other services besides dial-up Internet, including broadband and e-mail. NetZero is USA and Freeola is UK, and as an American I don't know what other regions have. But to anyone reading Fedi on 56K (people have written lightweight clients that allow this), if you HAVE AOL dialup, consider NetZero or do further research while you still can.
Find a dialup provider that suits your needs. Tell your neighbors, especially elderly ones, as well as anyone from marginalized backgrounds you feel should know, as well as any people you know who are low-income. This is also a time for mutual aid to be factored in if you know that someone you are caring for or caring about is going to be negatively affected by this. Support the people in your orbit who will be harmed by this, and see if you can help them find a solution if you can safely do so. If you can't afford any providers, making a mutual aid request as a stopgap is wise while you are still online. If you do end up hosed, call someone trusted, and explain, and ask them what your options are. Even libraries (other than mine of course), public computers (if you can find any), and coffee shops (if possible, also Starbucks isn't the only cafe with WiFi, also see places like Panera and McDonald's if you're truly desperate and they are nearby. Also if at McDonald's, go for a 24-hour one if needed) would work. Remember, I'm saying this as a recommendation. Your situation may call for other things to be done, and that's OK because you may need more help, or you may be only partially or minorly affected. These are just tips on what to do before September ends. It's the end of old-school AOL. I hadn't known it was still around because I was just fortunate enough to not have dialup. Some of my neighbors still might. Also, if they are elderly, DO check in on them and help them find options. You could save a life or more. The Internet as a research tool as intended can and has saved many lives. If you keep the AOL changes from stranding someone offline, you can potentially prevent a tragedy beyond just job or DEI effects. Never be afraid to do the right thing. Save 56K!