Oddbean new post about login | logout Why did we just accept the noises that came out of dialup modems for years? Why didn't we just take the speaker out or hit the mute button?
For the aesthetic
Yep. It was “the thing”, the feedback that let you know it was working. It sounded cool.
And when it sounded slightly different, you were like "maybe someone is hacking me".
I kinda liked it…
Such a weird sound but same. I wonder what the story is behind it… or maybe some dude just randomly decided to make it that way 🤔
It was literally an audible translation of 1s and 0s. Traditional phonelines were only able to transmit noise - this was the solution for transmitting data.
I think this corroborates your explanation. Regardless, i found it entertaining 😂 https://youtu.be/GCe6xnxdN1Y
Great little animation. Yes, by default, the speaker was active during the handshake for the user to confirm that all was well.
Because if the speaker wasn't on you couldn't yell out to hang up the phone when your modem starting saying "Hello? Hello?" There was also a sense of relief when the handshake went well & the white noise took over.
You could also yell out "are you sending a fax, or are you surfing the internet superhighway and opening your emails again?"