Dial ups still exist and will for a while. Credit card machines / ATM machines / emission test machines use phone lines to communicate.

I'm in a rural area where copper phone lines from the 1950's end up in an old house that contains the switching network. DSL isn't an option and no fiber here. Cable internet is a possibility but I don't have a TV ( don't miss it ) making an internet only connection a bit $.

I have as needed offsite access to a fast connection if I want to download a large catalog PDF. For 1 or 2 meg files I just let it download while I'm away from the computer. A dedicated fast connection would be nice but I haven't hit critical mass yet.