Accelerated your dial-up connection?
No, not upgraded to one of the expensive broadband options. Have you simply signed up for an "accelerator" that can make your existing dial-up up to five times faster according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
While accelerated services have existed for years, recent technology has made them much faster. The accelerators, for example, now do a better job of compressing Web pages and images, which means they can be transmitted to users' computers more quickly. They also store data from Web pages on users' computers and on disparate Web servers, meaning information that hasn't changed -- like logos and sidebar graphics -- doesn't have to get downloaded twice.
...United Online, which runs low-priced dial-up services Juno and NetZero, has been pushing acceleration aggressively. The No. 4 national provider says more than 200,000 users have signed on for the faster service, which is $14.95 a month. The company has rolled out a television ad campaign dubbed "The HiSpeed Challenge," modeled on the Pepsi Challenge, which compares a standard dial-up line to an accelerated line.
...But some analysts question the long-term impact of accelerated services. "It's more of a stopgap to hold onto a subscriber base than a true alternative to broadband," says Michael Goodman, analyst for the Yankee Group. The Boston market-research firm predicts a steep decline in U.S. dial-up households, to 34 million in 2007 from 55 million in 2002. (It says there were 16 million broadband households at the end of 2002).