You know dial up deserved a better fate. For me, I realized it was dead for real about 7 years ago. I setup a US based dial up account as a backup for a vacation that included some remote places. It did work in a cabin in a cell signal blocking valley, but not in a hotel - where of course PBXs are all now VOIP. Irony indeed. Worst of all is that a "real" POTS line cost more than a cell phone.
Related question: is it still true that if you are willing to pay (was like $100+/month) local telcos must sell you a ISDN BRI line? Anyone out there in oh say, the Nevada desert with such a connection? Satellite then? Or are you just on AOL?