In the 1990's, while I was a Systems Analyst at NYNEX, I heard a cell phone’s electronic ringer for the first time. I’ll never forget that my first reaction to the sound was the thought “They are going to put that sound in every TV commercial.”
It seems, at my age, that every change in the world of telecommunications brings about new, improved, more sexy, more beautiful, more perfect ... and more intrusive ways of demanding that we pay attention to the latest new gadget, cream, hair treatment, automobile, fashion, patent medicine, or politician.
I used to work in the Broadcasting industry, and I learned at a young age that there are certain riffs from “classic” movies which are, to this day, licensed to advertisers for use in commercials: three, or four or five note versions of Canis Lupus Familiaris licking at our faces - all of them guaranteed to increase image retention and boost sales - and bring back the wonderful days of yesteryear when the world made sense and The Tall White Guy always knew what was best.
Now, I here imitations of ring tones and every other well-known alert tone in what seems like every new song or tv show, and I’m not kidding: the very first time I heard a cellphone ring, I could predict the future. We’re hooked.
Bill Horne