I think you all missed a very important feature of external modems: SECURITY.
If things get two bad (servers comandeering my browsers), click! You can't
click and internal modem. And besides, a power switch is an analog device
==> no firmware program to worry about...

-- 
Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the
estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him. --Lord of the Rings