People born before 1998 heard a long series of beeps to connect
A TikTokker said that only older generations will remember this sound
READ MORE: Hilarious video of kids trying out dial-up
<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A TikToker has gone viral for claiming that there is “a sound” that is believed to forever separate the old generations from the new.
If you were born before 1998, you will beat yourself up for not receiving it right away. But those born after that date may have no idea: it’s the dial-up tone.
Squawking is called a “handshake” as the modem connects to the phone to provide Internet.
A TikToker known as The glass sniper said in a video that had 300,000 views: ‘Because we know the struggle that we had to endure and that the new generation will never have to endure,’ he shared in the video.
A TikToker shared the fact on the social media platform and noted that when the older generation hears it, they will be ‘ashamed’.
He posted a video with just the sound of dial-up for context and received thousands of comments from generations who remember using it or hearing about it.
“There is only one sound in this entire world that will forever separate the old generation from the new,” The Glass Sniper said in the video.
He continued: ‘Because when the new generation hears it, they will have no idea what we are talking about.
‘But when the old generation hears it… We shudder!
“Because we know that the struggle we had to endure and that the new generation will never have to endure.”
Dial-up took off in the 1990s and early to mid-2000s, and was used to access the Internet by connecting your modem to a home phone line through your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Dial-up took off in the 1990s and into the mid-2000s, but most Millennials will remember the embarrassing sound the modem made when connecting to the Internet.
Upon starting the computer, the user would call the ISP’s phone number using their computer and modem.
The ISP would then answer the call and connect to the modem, emitting a series of beeps lasting about 30 seconds or more.
The user would be granted Internet access once the ISP verified the account, but would lose connection when someone in the house answered the landline, something younger generations will never appreciate.
If someone at home wanted to use the phone, whoever was at the computer could hear them yell to “turn off the computer” so they could make a call.
Dial-up fell by the wayside as Internet companies’ technology advanced to the point where they could no longer support dial-up technology.
When broadband connections were rolled out in the mid-2000s, people began opting for the faster alternative.
In 2002, 55 million people in the US used dial-up; In 2003, that number had dropped to 51 million, but by September 2023, that number had dropped to just 400,000, according to the US Census Bureau.
At the time, some people resisted the new technology in favor of slower service, with one person saying The New York Times in 2003 that while he spends time waiting to download data, “I bring a newspaper and sit and read.”
Another person told the outlet: “I have friends who are high-tech computer engineers who are horrified by the fact that I have dial-up access.” “I’m just telling them I’m more patient than they are.”
Things have changed dramatically since then, as internet users expect ultra-fast online speeds and can access the internet from almost anywhere.
Patience with slow-running technology may be waning, but at least pre-1998 generations can return to so-called simpler times with just one sound.
“I had to explain this to my 10-year-old son,” one person commented on the TikTok video.
He added: “He thought it was the sound of emergency response or television static.”