56k Warnings

[Canman]

Here's my useless rant of the day, but this is an honest question:

Why do forum users still post 56k warnings? Don't 56k users know that their connection basically screws them from viewing anything useful? These warnings seem so outdated to me. I don't anyone who uses a dial up modem any more.

 

[Brian_the_King]

People do still dial up, and I guess it's nice to know if someone with broadband is, say, downloading something. They'll know not to click if they don't want a long wait. It might also be a habit to some, or people just following the crowd.

 

[arnoldsoccer4]

Just out of curiosity how many head-fiers do have dial up?

 

[milkpowder]

Sometimes, my posts have [1Mbps warnings]

 

[no1likesme]

i have dial up during the summer when I live with my parents in rural michigan. It is impossible to get broadband access here. We cannot even get satelite internet here.

 

[GlendaleViper]

It can be a good warning for people on a weak wireless connection or phone, too. I think 56k just became the standard nomenclature over writing things like Big Pics or Slow Connection, No.

 

[Zorander]

What really throws me off is the warning telling 56K people to 'GTFO'. Why does it matter to the thread, its OP and others viewing the thread since the only one to lose out is the 56K user him-/herself (from the slow loading speed)? It sounds as if using a 56K connection is a disease unto itself.

 

[no1likesme]

using a 56k connection is a disease

 

[ericj]

You and i are too cool to associate with anybody on dialup, but more than 2/3rds of people access the intertubes on a 56k modem.

It's disgusting and unconscionable but true.

Back in 2003, when times were hard, I ended up doing swing-shift internet tech support to pay the bills. I tried and tried to explain to people that they have to resize or at least recompress 5 megapixel images before trying to email a dozen of them out over 56k or else it'd just take for friggin ever and annoy the heck out of their similarly modem-bound recipients, but they never ever understood.

Edit: OK, the current stats for the US are a little less bleak - only half of the people on the 'net in the US are on dialup now:

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0704/

 

[adanac061]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif It can be a good warning for people on a weak wireless connection or phone, too. I think 56k just became the standard nomenclature over writing things like Big Pics or Slow Connection, No.

x2, 56k=no means .."Beware, there are huge *ss pics in this thread."

Not many people have 56k , but lots have 256kbps cable/dsl which is not much better when trying to show lots of huge 3MB pics.

 

[gmoffatt]

To me, 56K warning means I'll find lots of big pictures of amps and cans inside, so I'd hate to see the warning go! It makes it a must-read post!

 

[J-Pak]

My guess is 90% of Vermont is on dial up

 

[Canman]

"US broadband penetration grew 0.65 percentage points to 80.81% among active Internet users in March."

The website you quote says 50% of US households have broadband connection. Of the households which have an internet connection, 81% have broadband access.

This is an interesting statistic. Someday, dialup will be a thing of the past.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif You and i are too cool to associate with anybody on dialup, but more than 2/3rds of people access the intertubes on a 56k modem. It's disgusting and unconscionable but true. Back in 2003, when times were hard, I ended up doing swing-shift internet tech support to pay the bills. I tried and tried to explain to people that they have to resize or at least recompress 5 megapixel images before trying to email a dozen of them out over 56k or else it'd just take for friggin ever and annoy the heck out of their similarly modem-bound recipients, but they never ever understood. Edit: OK, the current stats for the US are a little less bleak - only half of the people on the 'net in the US are on dialup now: http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0704/

 

[grandenigma1]

I usually read 56k as it might actually be a fun thread

 

[ericj]

I think that's 50% of us households can get a broadband connection.

At any rate, my point was, there are still millions of people out there on dialup. They're just too embarrassed to admit it. As well they should be.

And anyway, you should all cower in fear of the multi-gigabit fiber I had run into my basement about a year ago.