A beacon of the early internet is about to be silenced.

AOL’s dial-up internet service is shutting down Tuesday, ending one of the web’s first mainstream access points.

Stream Los Angeles News for free, 24/7, wherever you are. WATCH HERE

Once a dominant technology player , AOL, initially called America Online, provided the gateway for millions of people to get their first taste of the web. Signing into the service — a process accompanied by a noisy, garbled series of computerized tones that sounded like a drowning robot — became a rite of passage.

Once online, they would be greeted by a chipper if vaguely mechanical voice exclaiming “Welcome! You’ve Got Mail!” The phrase grew so familiar that it became the title of a blockbuster romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

See Full Page