I’m very glad to live in a time where I can just hop on the internet whenever, instead of having to dial up a number and wait for the modem to do its prolonged connection concerto and often failing. But sometimes I do miss the sound.
Like most people over a certain age, I appreciate what it was like to use old-school technology. And while it’s easy to get nostalgic by pulling up YouTube and finding someone trying to use a dial-up modem in the present-day, there are even better resources out there if you want a little reminder about what your favourite geeky gear sounded like way back when.
My colleague Michelle pointed me in the direction of the German website Conserve the Sound the other day, and I already love it. When you pull it up, you’re immediately greeted with a featured gallery of older gadgets—cameras, typewriters, phones, an NES, et cetera. Unfortunately, you won’t find a modem on here (yet), so you’ll have to continue to turn to YouTube to experience the thrill of the handshake noise for the time being.
Click on a device, and you can hear a recording of the devices sound while you view a lovely little slideshow featuring great pictures of whatever you’re listening to. Some of these audio clips are short examples of the device being used for its primary purpose, while others are more ASMR-like recordings of someone fiddling with an object any way they can.
My favourite? The Klick-Klack-Kugeln, of course. I’m also partial to the Büchereistempel, which reminds me of the 1989 SCUMM hit Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, as well as the classic View-Master, which everyone can probably recall using at some point.
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