Many years ago, before high-speed Internet existed through a cable company or telephone company, we used a dial-up modem to connect to the Internet. We also needed an Internet provider like CompuServe, MSN or AOL. A built-in or external modem dialed the Internet provider service over a voice telephone line at a very slow rate.
No one I know uses dial-up Internet access any longer because high-speed internet is so prevalent and affordable.
A few of my clients who have high-speed Internet also have kept AOL or MSN for various reasons. They have kept AOL or MSN because they like the familiarity after having it for many years. Others like it for the features like email or chat rooms. Some are using AOL because they believe it is needed to connect to the internet.
I want to stress that AOL or MSN isn’t needed to connect to the internet if you have a high-speed Internet connection. The high-speed internet connection is “always on” as long as your computer is powered on along with the network equipment. To browse the Internet, just open a web browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer. Your other Internet programs like Skype and Dropbox will also work fine without AOL or MSN.
It’s fine to keep AOL for its features, but remember it isn’t necessary to get on the Internet in the majority of cases.