Even “better,” all of that while connected over a dial-up line, where you had to fervently pray no one else in the house would pick up a phone and kill your connection.

Truth!

Well, when they picked up and it "screeched" at them like a banshee they usually dropped it again and it often recovered..

And they would get mad at you for inconveniencing them

I'm glad we've made progress.

Yes, the whole, is it worth downloading?, dilemma