If you’re a teenager, the chances are that you won’t perceive this post as anything but a relic. Back in our day, the dialup modem was our best friend. The distinctive sound it made as it connected to the Internet was music to our ears, in spite of the 56.0 kbps speeds that we got. I don’t know about the others, but I do clearly remember that if I was able to connect in one try, I was one happy camper.
Here’s something that might be a surprise to you: Dialup Internet access, no matter how slow and outdated, is still being used today. The concept is based on being able to connect to the Internet with only a telephone line being required. You may find it hard to imagine, but there are parts of the world where broadband or mobile Internet is not available, hence the continued use of dialup.
Back to that wondrous sound…
In case you are not sure what is it, or you’ve forgotten it already (How can you?), watch this.
Now what if you can convert the sound into an image? What if you could draw the sound of the dialup? That should not be too difficult, with all the tools that we have. Sound waves are visualized regularly after all.
So that’s exactly what Finland-based infographics artist Oona Räisänen did. She simply did a spectrum analysis and then broke down the segments, giving explanations as to what the sounds mean. The result? A pretty nifty poster of the sound of the dialup!
The Sound of the Dialup
The explanations are too small to figure out, but you can read the details here. Very interesting reading, trust me. And, if you want to get this poster to hang up on your wall, go to Red Bubble. The Sound of the Dialup is available in three sizes, starting at $22.91 for the 23.2″ x 12.1″.