History Main / BeepingComputers

* In ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'', computer panels tend to make lots of noise.

* ''VideoGame/Extrapower'': Big Gun is an antique robot in the Dark Force Army, now reduced to a decommissioned museum piece, that resembles a boxy, antique computer but with a big gun attached. If Platinum has studied alien technology throughout the game, she can reactivate him. And upon reactivation, Big Gun speaks entirely via ''Bi bi? Bi bi bi bi! Bi bi'' electronic chirps.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_1401#1401_culture IBM 1401]] was built in a time before the FCC limited RF emissions by electronics equipment; it was therefore much "noisier" in the RF spectrum than modern computers. This had the unintended effect that an AM radio would pick up a specific note ''for each instruction.'' It was thus possible for an operator familiar with the machine to recognize jobs by the sequence of notes they played - a real-life classic BeepingComputer!

** Ten is having a picnic with Elizabeth I when his handheld device starts making loud whirring and chirping noises. When asked incredulously what it was, the Doctor's first answer was "It's a device that goes 'ding!'"

* In ''Film/BladeRunner'' the instrument Deckard uses to analyse the photographs he found is incapable of doing anything without some sort of sound effect; beeps, blips, quops, and mechanical-sounding chattering that may or may not have something to do with physically adjusting the optics or the photograph's position.

* The abominably user-friendly computers of ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' are designed by expert teams of social psychologists and sales executives to provide the most fulfilling possible computer-use experience to you, the customer, [[TastesLikeDiabetes whether you like it or not.]] Beep beep beep.

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Since VideoGame/{{Uplink}} is basically a HollywoodHacking simulator, practically everything makes silly noises while the player is doing pretty much anything. The touch-tone IP dialling is especially prominent.
* [=PCs=] in the Franchise/{{Pokemon}} games beep when used.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' continues the ancient, tape drive, room-size computers of previous two games. Beeps included. Interaction with a computer terminal in said game series also produces beeping noises when the terminal screen is refreshing or when the player interacts with the terminal during the hacking minigames.

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[[folder: Real Life ]]

** Windows used to be replete with useless noises whenever things happen or actions are taken: computer startup, computer shutdown, minimizing a window, un-minimizing a window, closing a window, ending a program, clicking on anything, using a dialogue box, error messages, etc. Users sometimes bought new sound packs to customize the cacophony of noises that Windows would generate with use. Without a soundcard, the PC speaker would make the noise, which invariably sounds like a crude beep. As computing got more mainstream, the noises began to get sidelined. Now, the [=MessageBeep=] function will only trigger in limited circumstances, making Windows use largely silent.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': Zen makes a variety of humming noises and Orac makes a particularly irritating set of high-pitched beeps.

[[folder: Anime ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Many PC units to this day have internal speakers which the BIOS uses to indicate the status of the hardware; they normally sound a single beep shortly after the initial power-on to indicate a lack of major problems. Multiple or unusually long beeps are used to indicate specific hardware errors that prevent the computer from booting up; their exact meanings are usually listed in a printed troubleshooting guide. The reason BIOS beep codes exist of course is that when your video display is not working, or you're not able to load enough of your operating system to display text, driving a primitive speaker requires almost no software support. [[note]]However, some companies have actually experimenting with alternatives (DFI made their board plays [[NightmareFuel unnerving music]] when an error occurs, while Asus made their high-end board speak the error in a droning monotone, and Asrock went as far as making the PC speaker play the sound of an '''Air raid siren'''. None of these features are found in modern boards from said companies, and you can probably [[BringMyBrownPants guess why]].[[/note]]

* Many PC units to this day have internal speakers which the BIOS uses to indicate the status of the hardware; they normally sound a single beep shortly after the initial power-on to indicate a lack of major problems. Multiple or unusually long beeps are used to indicate specific hardware errors that prevent the computer from booting up; their exact meanings are usually listed in a printed troubleshooting guide. The reason BIOS beep codes exist of course is that when your video display is not working, or you're not able to load enough of your operating system to display text, driving a primitive speaker requires almost no software support.

* The abominably user-friendly computers of ''Franchise/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' are designed by expert teams of social psychologists and sales executives to provide the most fulfilling possible computer-use experience to you, the customer, [[TastesLikeDiabetes whether you like it or not.]] Beep beep beep.

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's "The Last Question", the supercomputer was softly clicking (and some lights were flashing) when routinely sorting data, but once it was asked a difficult question "The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sounds of clicking relays ended." Of course, no future computer ever makes a noise when working. The story was written when analog computers were still prevalent - and were of course replete with relays and valves which clicked and lit up. See "Contemporary computers" under Real Life.
* In Literature/{{Discworld}}:

* If your hard drive starts making loud periodic clicking sounds, [[OhCrap you're in deep trouble]] (e.g. stuck spindle or bad heads).

-->-- '''{{Music/Kraftwerk}}''', ''Pocket Calculator'' - ''Music/ComputerWorld''.

* In ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries Iron Fist]]'', a datapad makes a sound when it's finished uploading its program into a Super Star Destroyer's computer. This attracts a little attention, but Shalla is able to bully the stormtroopers into thinking the sound came from outside of the bridge - she's there as part of TheInfiltration.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Chloe highlighted a section of a picture on a computer. The computer, on its own, then highlighted a portion of that section and beeped. I'm not familiar with that kind of software. If you have the zoom/magnification tool selected, it does work in some graphics programs; GIMP is one, at least under Linux.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':

** In another episode [=McGee=] tells Tony shuting down a mainframe isn't a video game, cut to a a helpful countdown to the time remaining, announcements of the firewalls he has breached and soluiton is Gibbs shooting the computer to prevent it from sending its kill command, which would be acceptable if it wasn't that the only thing he shot was the [[ComputerEqualsMonitor monitor]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho.'' Ten is having a picnic with Elizabeth I when his handheld device starts making loud whirring and chirping noises. When asked incredulously what it was, the Doctor's first answer was "It's a device that goes 'ding!'"
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries.'' Working on the bridge of the original starship ''Enterprise'' would be enough to drive one AxCrazy. Other Trek series make computers noisier than their real-life counterparts, but it's waaay toned down.
** This is really an example of GrandfatherClause--the computers in the original series beeped because it was a futuristic interpretation of the rather noisy computers of TheSixties (which really did have blinking lights too). Later computers might have moved on to render this a DeadHorseTrope, but beeping computers are now so associated with ''Franchise/StarTrek'' that it wouldn't be the same without them.
* Also occurred in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. The LCARS interface chirps, beeps or bleeps every time it shows a new word, plots a planet in a star chart or changes a value in a number-filled spreadsheet. There is actually a point to this: Giving feedback to the user, since an absence of mechanical keys means you cannot "feel" anymore whether you actually pressed something.
* A frequent occurrence on the various ''Series/{{CSI}}'' entries over the years.
* Also afflicts ''Series/MidsomerMurders'', whenever there's a computer around. Thankfully, it's not that often.
* The original ''Series/KnightRider'' has KITT emiting a characteristic sound whenever it lights its frontal scanner and enters "Surveillance Mode". The sound was so associated with KITT that the 2008 series carried the same sound effect (the front scanner light effect was completely different, though).

* Topher lampshades this in the ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' episode "Echoes."
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' mini-episode "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007CiNSTimeCrash Time Crash]]", this trope occurs when Ten flips the monitor around to show Five the exact size of the hole in the time-space continuum that would happen if they don't separate their Tardises.
* This happens almost any time you see a computer interface in ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}''. Every scroll and click makes some sort of noise.
* One or two [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] shows in the late 70s and early 80s showed people typing on computer keyboards, accompanied by a symphony of Radiophonic bleeps.
* Commonplace in ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963''. JustifiedTrope since the series was made during TheSixties, when computers blooped and bleeped in real life.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' has this occasionally. For example, when Ben Urich watches Wilson Fisk's press conference and realizes that his editorial will be moot, he deletes the file with a definitive bleeping sound.
* Both Zen and Orac in ''Series/BlakesSeven'': with Zen making a variety of humming noises, and Orac making a particularly irritating set of high-pitched beeps.

* Programs for some older home computers were encoded as bleeps and noises on cassette tapes, basically like recording data sent over a phone modem into an audio tape. The ZX Spectrum and TI-99/4 home computers play these noises while loading programs. If you have a vintage computer that loads programs off tapes, you can play the tapes into a modern computer and burn them to CD or save them to UsefulNotes/MP3. Then you can play the audio into the old computer and it should load the program without wearing out your vintage tapes. The Supercharger adapter for the Atari 2600 game console likewise allows loading of data from cassettes. These sounds are not intended for the user to hear. But tones indicating the loading status, and matching a graphical feedback, are played through the TV speakers.

* In an example which might have started this trope, some old text terminals were programmed to make a click or beep every time a character was input through the keyboard; the speaker was often part of the keyboard itself. This traces back to noisy teletypes and typewriters which these terminals replaced; the idea that printing could be silent did not occur immediately after technology made it possible.

** Soft keyboards can also punctuate your key presses with sound. This was initially implemented to help users transition from the physical keyboards of early smartphones to the virtual keyboards of later models.