27 Oct 2005
You Know What? Just Shut Up

It's not just the intentional bings, bleeps and buzzes - it's the background (ambient) noise, too. You have no idea how much you hear, even in supposedly quiet areas, like out here in the country. You have to go pretty far back in the back 40 to get away from it, and even then there are modern noises that simply cannot be avoided, like aircraft.

One of the things that struck the characters in the book Timeline about their arrival in the 14th century was the lack of ambient noise: no motors, no aircraft, no highway hum, fans, blowers, pumps. They found it somewhat disconcerting - I think I would find it most refreshing.

Incoming call ... ooooOOOOoooooo! TV dinner's done ... beeeeEEEp! There's just too much noise out there, and most of it is completely pointless. Commentary by Tony Long.

(link) [Wired News]

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