Play the sound of a typewriter to a child and they’ll have little idea what it is they’re listening to. Play it to an older adult and they might break into a smile at some of the memories that it instantly evokes. Ditto the sound of an old cassette recorder, rotary telephone, or Super 8 camera.
Keen to preserve these and other sounds for generations to come, Stuart Fowkes has been building the Cities and Memory archive, with old tech sounds forming part of its growing database of recordings.
“We are at a stage now where the lifespan of sounds, as they come into existence and then move out of existence, is so much shorter than it ever has been,” Fowkes told BBC Radio this week. “When you think of the ringtone, that was four or five years ago, that now seems really archaic.”
The British sound artist and field recordist notes how people who were around in the early days of the internet in the 1990s will have a particular reaction when they hear a recording of an odd screeching sound, also known as a dial-up modem.
“There are particular sounds that evoke a certain memory and are very personal, and I think it’s important to collect the sounds together and be able to present them back because I think that anyone that listens to the collection will have their own particular response to it,” Fowkes told the BBC.
“Whether it’s a video game sound or whether it’s the sound of a camera shutter that particularly resonates with them, maybe it takes them back to their childhood or to a particular experience they had,” he added.
If you have a moment, be sure to check out the project’s archive of sounds and sound projects, which don’t only focus on obsolete or disappearing technology. For example, it also includes recordings that dip into cultures around the world, like a geisha performance in Japan or traditional Khmer music from Cambodia.
Sounds from nature are also included, with some, such as a recording of a glacier breaking up, touching on issues such as climate change.
Fowkes also highlights how the ongoing project has become an inspiration for artists, with some creators using the source recordings to create musical compositions. You can check out some of them on the project’s web page for obsolete sounds, which features audio of typewriters, telephones, cameras, slide projectors, and VCRs, among other gear.
You can listen to Fowkes’ interview via the BBC’s website. The segment starts at the 40-minute mark.
Recently, we've entered an exciting collaboration with Maple Media, creating a bundle of 17 apps worth having on your phone. From relaxed fun to serious productivity boosts, these apps cover all your bases and provide a fun boost to your phone. Normally, the bundle is $9.99 per month (far lower than the cost of using the apps individually), but for your first 7 days you can get access to the bundle for free. View the full Digital Trends App Bundle for a complete list of the apps, or read on for a summarized take.
What's happened? This week, China's Quality Certification Center released information about a battery (EB-BS04898ABY) with a maximum capacity of 4,855mAh. That's the same capacity as was previously seen in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and fans have taken this certification to mean the Galaxy S26 Ultra will not see a capacity increase after all.
The Samsung Galaxy Ultra models have had the same battery capacity for the last five years.
What's happened? Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite, a budget-friendly alternative to the Galaxy Tab S10. The device has been rumored for months, but this is the first time Samsung has officially acknowledged its existence.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Lite will have a 10.9-inch display and a peak brightness of 600 nits — a bit on the lower side, versus the iPad Pro's maximum brightness of 1,600 nits.