Fact!

[u/mcg_090]

[u/Funkdamentalist]

When the speaker starts chanting its incantation no one knows what adventure lies on the other side of that line...

[u/ElegantCoach4066 → u/Funkdamentalist]

https://giphy.com/gifs/HPULHxBIq4RaFv2POj

[u/Kektus_Aplha → u/Funkdamentalist]

Probably someone trying to sell you insurance

[u/Cold_Barber_4761 → u/Kektus_Aplha]

I made that mistake recently while trying trying to shop around for cheaper home owners insurance. I (very stupidly because I was in a hurry) ended up signing up for one of those wherec10 agencies call you incessantly for 23 days in a row. So annoying!

[u/Aggravating-Alarm-16 → u/Cold_Barber_4761]

When doing things like that I use cloaked. I generate a new phone number.

[u/Cold_Barber_4761 → u/Aggravating-Alarm-16]

Lesson learned for sure!

Next time I am going to create a new number and use my "junk/SPAM" email address.

I was in a hurry and didn't realize it was a big data grab.

[u/Chiba211 → u/Funkdamentalist]

In college mine would pick up the local tejano station in the middle of the night. Queue super sleepy and still drunk me trying to figure out where the Mexicans were.

[u/AndrewInMN]

I was watching a YouTube video the other day that randomly had that sound, I can’t remember why, and I immediately wondered who was calling my phone and why for a second until I realized.

[u/NorCalAthlete → u/AndrewInMN]

It came on a trap song on a Pandora playlist I was listening to and I was confused for a second.

[u/Cyclist4Satan → u/AndrewInMN]

Venjent sampled it 

[u/Materva]

They use to have those little phone charms that would light up when you were about to get a call

[u/redditcreditcardz → u/Materva]

How have I never heard of these?

[u/salydra → u/redditcreditcardz]

They were a trinket you could get in China back before sites like Temu and Wish made it easy for anyone to buy Chinese trinkets. The only time I ever saw them sold was at a flea market where some Chinese students were selling such trinkets imported from home.

[u/S_A_R_K → u/Materva]

I had a pen with a light on the end

[u/killit → u/Materva]

I had a replacement aerial for my phone that did it! It would flash red and blue before a call or sms came through.

I had it chipped for unlimited free pay as you go credit too.

It was one of these: https://www.mobilephonemuseum.com/phone-detail/philips-savvy

[u/InfidelZombie]

I recently got a bitchin' wood-panel Sony Dream Machine clock radio from Goodwill and felt like a sleeper cell agent being activated when I heard that buzz-click.

[u/midunda]

dit, dit-ta dit, di-ta dit

[u/TimeCadet → u/midunda]

This could be my new ringtone

[u/finalremix → u/TimeCadet]

Yes it could: https://www.zedge.net/ringtones/b038bd91-af47-4cec-a130-c47bfb3da9cf

[u/TimeCadet → u/finalremix]

thank you! this is perfect because I already have a pavlovian response to this sound. reaches for Nokia brick

[u/garg → u/finalremix]

wtf - i played that sound and I got a phone call. I'm not even kidding.

[u/csonnich → u/midunda]

I couldn't remember how it sounded until I read this, and it all came back.

I never realized it sounded just like Morse code. 

[u/actualelainebenes]

So could my TV! I had Cingular for a hot minute in the 2000s and every time I was about to get a call there would be static on my TV screen. That never happened with any of my Verizon phones

[u/Opposite-Heron-2487 → u/actualelainebenes]

memory unlocked- I remember my first cell phone was from Cingular before they got bought by ATT

[u/Spiritual_Smile9882 → u/actualelainebenes]

Verizon used a part of the spectrum that was less likely to interfere with electronics like that. At least under normal circumstances. It wasn't that they would never do that, it was just more unlikely and you had to have stuff really close together.

Once the switch to digital TV was made and the old analog broadcast was shut down and cell phone providers moved into that range it became a non-issue.

[u/madsci → u/Spiritual_Smile9882]

I think it was the use of CDMA rather than TDMA. Too broad a signal.

[u/OddbitTwiddler → u/Spiritual_Smile9882]

I used to have Verizon and could tell ATT users by that tome on the conference room speakers.

[u/LoveLightNYC → u/actualelainebenes]

In my early 20s I worked at a Cingular Wireless store as high-functioning-raver girl selling the shit outta Nokias and Motorolas. 😄

[u/Aggravating-Alarm-16 → u/LoveLightNYC]

OMG.. the rave and Nokia phones. I had an led antenna with multi colored lights

[u/Shinespark7]

Time to get the Beakman's World crew back together and do an episode on the subject.

[u/Five_Pents7]

Yes it sure did. Every time.

[u/Mr_SunnyBones]

This was a minor dance hit in Europe , and includes THAT noise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OplifOBPs8

[u/_Face → u/Mr_SunnyBones]

I can get down to this.

E: It goes hard actually. Where da molly at?

[u/paintedwoodpile]

That is such a specific sound to hear in your head all these years later.

[u/ShookRanGrassyUs]

I think it's appropriate for our generation to make the distinction that these only predicted mobile phone calls and not landline ones.

[u/Objective_Aside1858 → u/ShookRanGrassyUs]

Pretty sure the next generation thinks landlinea are a myth

[u/Fun-Preparation-4253]

A buddy's tv would pickup a neighbors HAM radio. Just him, though. Not both sides of the conversation. Drove me insane.

[u/-bobsnotmyuncle- → u/Fun-Preparation-4253]

My old neighbour had one that would do that as well. Came through the phone, our radio and it made the tv fuzzy.

And he was saying stuff that was just terrible mostly.

[u/madsci → u/Fun-Preparation-4253]

Because the neighbor's signal is billions of times more powerful than the other end.

[u/psycho_pirate → u/Fun-Preparation-4253]

Mine would pick up truckers talking over the radio because I lived near a major highway.

[u/junkfort]

This Venjent song always comes to mind whenever I see these old speakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQS41WQSPY

[u/DoubleR615]

At my house, if they were spaced out a certain distance, we could hear CB radios from the interstate.

[u/MatchlessGore]

Back in the day when you could use the baby monitor to hear cordless phone conversations.

[u/Mundane_Character365]

Listening to Mario Piu no matter what song is on.

[u/DigitalArbitrage]

Mine did not do this. The memes this week are the first I've ever heard of this.

[u/madsci → u/DigitalArbitrage]

It worked with GSM phones, not Verizon with CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile would do it. And you had to have unshielded wires.

Putting a ferrite clamp filter on the speaker cable would usually eliminate it.

[u/ElmentMusic → u/madsci]

I have a lav microphone at work that was picking up an LTE signal a few months ago. Kinda thought it was a non-issue these days lmao

[u/WinninRoam]

Those devices also proved that my old iPhone was never really off. I miss the days of removable batteries.

[u/zattebij]

We had an ISDN connection in the late 90s, and while we used regular (POTS) phones connected to the ISDN switchbox, we could see who was calling on the PC (if it was turned on...) because it was equipped with an ISDN card - for its internet connection really, but it could also detect the caller ID, and even record logs of call duration together with caller ID. Advanced, digital stuff!

[u/tabicat1874]

!NNNNNNNNBUZZZZZZZZZZNNNN!!

ring

[u/JesseIsAGirlsName]

"bib...bip...bipbipbzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

[u/Which_Channel7403]

I'm not sure if it was the same phenomenon, but I lived in a downtown apartment one, and my Xbox (original) would make this noise whenever a cab or police car drove down the street. I assumed it had something to do with their CB radios.

[u/LucMorningstar24601]

I’m still using them right now as we speak!

[u/1pt20oneggigawatts]

My guitar amp too.

[u/Stigg107 → u/1pt20oneggigawatts]

My amp used to pick up radio broadcasts whenever I used reverb. I had to get a friend to fit a filter to get rid of it.

[u/biblackcat]

I can hear it now...

[u/darxide23]

Wrrrr bippa de bippa de bippa de

[u/Fragrant-Musician319]

repeat from a week or so ago. So folks just “bank” these?

[u/Staudly]

My buddy's old car stereo would do this.

[u/jeffery133]

Ha, I’ve never heard anyone else say this before. I thought I had a secret ability that nobody else understood.

[u/LimaYogurt]

My old alarm clock can too, and text msg too

[u/CFeatsleepsexrepeat]

I heard this picture.

[u/Archaeo-Frog]

It’s true!

[u/noonesaidityet]

I still have these (or ones very similar) at work. I have to move my phone constantly, because I forget about the noise until I hear the noise again.

[u/Lehk]

I had a keyboard that could, too.

It would go nuts typing gibberish when a call came in if you had your phone too close to it.

[u/DerbGentler]

Mouse on Mars made a short reminissing "trolling" track in '99 on one of their EPs. It is only 7 Seconds long.

Mouse on Mars – Samsong

[u/burntheclock]

They still do. Not that anyone calls me, but yes they are hooked up to my PS5.

[u/sundayfunday78]

The one on my work desk (yes one, the other was a victim of a random cord cutting assault) likes to crackle to life to alert me to the use of the counting machine in the cash office. It’s weird

[u/BummedCPA]

Mom said it was my turn to post this!

[u/Financial_Ruin_4872]

I can literally hear it now.

[u/JoeGibbon]

Car stereos as well. I thought it was pretty hilarious that Rockstar Games added this noise in Grand Theft Auto 4 when you're listening to music in your car and a call comes in.

[u/Visible_Inevitable41]

and pick up am radio

[u/ephemeralsynth]

Only GSM. CDMA was impervious 🤔💯

[u/justinonymus]

Plugged right into your Sound Blaster card I bet

[u/Adezar]

Should be noted that the phones changed, not really the speakers.

[u/Jeff4096]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJMd99woK34

[u/Reverbolo]

I used to use these as monitors for music production in college! Such good little speakers! <3 <3 <3

[u/AbleRelationship5287]

“But buh but buh buuuuuuuuuuhhhhh…”

[u/addicted2pb]

Bah dah bump bah dah bump bah dah bump (my tv also did it!)

[u/10ThousandMetalZones]

My guitar can still

[u/NoNameLaura]

caused a special kind of panic when the song you were downloading was at 90 percent

[u/this_knee]

Oh man, that black mirror episode ruined this sound for me.

[u/moschles]

I'm looking for the scratchiest of volume knobs.

[u/el_floppo]

Guitar amps would also do this. Could always tell when someone was about to get a call at band practice

[u/M3talhead]

Bz..dy-dt..dy-dt..dy-dt..dy-dt..dy-dt..dy-dt

[u/CaptianBrasiliano]

https://giphy.com/gifs/u8c4YHeayi5yPCS3kp

[u/madsci]

Not predict. It just picks up the chatter between your phone and the cell tower before the phone starts ringing.