phone modems

[Guest]

Having recently got my first PC without a flopppy drive,I started thinking.When are they going to get rid of the phone modem? I barely use my network jack.

[yoda313]

Well dialup is still a cheap alternative for those that want to get online.

However the price of DSL is dropping like a rock if you have the right phone package with your local phone company. You can get dsl for not much more than dialup.

[bendixG15]

Why is it that just because you have no use for an item, you believe it should be discontinued ???

Half the people I know with computers use dial-up and refuse to switch because it serves there purpose.

Broaden that horizon of yours....They still sell cars with standard transmissions....rrooom...rrooomm

[Supreme2k]

Yeah! Screw you techies!

The abacus is where it's at!

[Guest]

I like my sundial.

[Faustus]

Most new Macs no longer come with modems. If you want a modem is an external dongle.

I prefer writing down strings and ones and zeros and driving the data to its location.

[SquirrelDip]

Still handy for their fax capabilities.

[Prot]

For some, cable or dsl are not an option. They are simply not available. I removed my modem to make room to put a tv card. I also had to remove the floppy drive to make room for a second hard drive.

[Guest]

Still handy for their fax capabilities.

sure. jfax works well with my broadband though.

[Guest]

Most new Macs no longer come with modems. If you want a modem is an external dongle.

I prefer writing down strings and ones and zeros and driving the data to its location.

I guess my point is "should they come standard?"
You should be able to get one as an option. Like someone who wants to run Win 98 and needs the floppy for a boot disk.

[ViRaL1]

For desktops, I think they'd be better as an add-on. For laptops I'd say they're still a must since you never know when you'll be out of broadband range.

Not that we don't all have $50+ /mo for mobile broadband. :P

[yoda313]

Well why not just integrate them like they do the lan ports nowadays??? How hard can it be to integrate a phone modem????

[Doramius]

How 'bout they just make it so you have a dongle? I think something similar was said above. Just make the technology standard, but give it a small little jack hole that a dongle can connect to. Rather than the 1cm square for the port that already exists, you can have a 2mm circular hole for a plug and mount it near the LAN port. Or do both the LAN port and phone together in a small jack, with the dongle having both ports.

[gadgetguy]

I hate dongles. Just another stupid piece of gear you have to carry around. I'm with Yoda. It can't be that hard to integrate it.

[AlecWest]

Half the people I know with computers use dial-up and refuse to switch because it serves there purpose.

Same here. This is especially true in many rural areas. And, a lot of people use dialup connections to send computer generated faxes. The modem isn't quite dead yet. I don't have one anymore but I do know scads of people who are limited in their use of the net and, when they do use it, it's primarily to receive/send email. I still refer people to Mailaka.net for dialup service. If they've already got a landline phone, $6.95 a month for 24/7/365 access (includes 10 meg website) is about as good as it gets.

One note, though - at least in Oregon state. A few rural areas are discovering that cheap wireless internet is workable. There's a rural area to the East of me that charges less for wireless (6mbit both upload and download) than my area's Comcast charges me for cable internet (784kbit upload, 7mbit download). I may retire there.

[Doramius]

Or satellite Broadband. It's coming down in cost, and getting more providers. The speed is roughly closer to that of DSL, but I'm pretty sure that could change if more enthusiasm goes into it. Even some urban areas are locked into only 1 DSL & 1 Cable Broadband company. Satellite could offer nearly a dozen new companies into the mix that can cause prices to drop signifigantly.

Outside of the equipment cost, again, the monthly prices are not that bad.

http://www.wildblue.com/getWildblue/search/01.jsp
http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com/hot-topics/wireless/articles/1328-att-launches-rura...et-service.htm
http://www.starband.com/whatis/whatis.asp

[yoda313]

But don't you have to be hooked up to a phone line to use the satellite broadband? That might not be attractive to some users.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Well why not just integrate them like they do the lan ports nowadays??? How hard can it be to integrate a phone modem????

Modems do come integrated in mainboards since many years now. You just have to pick the right motherboard.

[Faustus]

Well why not just integrate them like they do the lan ports nowadays??? How hard can it be to integrate a phone modem????

Modems do come integrated in mainboards since many years now. You just have to pick the right motherboard.

Its almost only name brand PC mobos like Compaq and stuff that has an onboard modem. You don't really see it on normal motherboards.

[BJ_M]

there are still 12+ million users in the USA using AOL dialup at $24-29 a month is why phone mod. are still included ....




unbelievable but true ...



they are handy for fax though (as mentioned)

[Doramius]

But don't you have to be hooked up to a phone line to use the satellite broadband? That might not be attractive to some users.

The computer isn't connected to the phone line, the satellite modem is. You don't pay for that service. Not all of the satellite broadband companies require it. I think it's for satellite positioning or something. Not quite sure, but I know people who have it on their RVs.

[sacajaweeda]

Maybe they are phasing stuff like floppies and phone modems out because the prices for new PCs keep dropping. You usually get what you pay for.

[Guest]

Maybe they are phasing stuff like floppies and phone modems out because the prices for new PCs keep dropping. You usually get what you pay for.

Yeah,right.

$10 floppy drive + $10 modem

[Doramius]

Maybe they are phasing stuff like floppies and phone modems out because the prices for new PCs keep dropping. You usually get what you pay for.

Yeah,right.

$10 floppy drive + $10 modem

Get them as a combo unit for $12.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Maybe they are phasing stuff like floppies and phone modems out because the prices for new PCs keep dropping. You usually get what you pay for.

Yeah,right.

$10 floppy drive + $10 modem

Get them as a combo unit for $12.

Buy the combo generic brand for $6

[Doramius]

Don't forget the $6 MIR.

[Super Warrior]

Having recently got my first PC without a flopppy drive,I started thinking.When are they going to get rid of the phone modem? I barely use my network jack.

Hey now, some of us still use dial-up. My college has free, GOOD quality dial-up running at 54k.

Dial-up is just fine for me to get online and do stuff. Only time it sucks is when it comes to downloading REALLY large files like games or programs, which i don't do often.

[Super Warrior]

Maybe they are phasing stuff like floppies and phone modems out because the prices for new PCs keep dropping. You usually get what you pay for.

Floppy drives are getting phased out simply because they are so damned obsolete. For saving just about anything these days, you'll need a LOT more than a measily 1.44MB.

Also the whole "using a Floppy for boot-disk stuff", has not been necessary since Win98. Modern O.S's like XP DO NOT need it.

My recently bought Dell Inspiron laptop lacks a floppy drive BTW. I could get an external USB drive but why bother? I'd NEVER use the thing.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

Super[/url] Warrior]Also the whole "using a Floppy for boot-disk stuff", has not been necessary since Win98. Modern O.S's like XP DO NOT need it.

Unless your primary HD is an SATA and you do need the drivers from the floppy so that WinXP will recognize it.

[Super Warrior]

Super[/url] Warrior]Also the whole "using a Floppy for boot-disk stuff", has not been necessary since Win98. Modern O.S's like XP DO NOT need it.

Unless your primary HD is an SATA and you do need the drivers from the floppy so that WinXP will recognize it.

I don't know about Sata as i've never messed with a sata HDD, but as for as IDE HDDs on WinXP comps go: i've NEVER once had to touch a floppy in order to do things like reformate the HDD and reinstall Windows XP. And i've built several of my own PCs too btw.

Isn't sata a NEWER HDD type? If so i wonder why it takes such a step back like that.