High Tech = Obnoxious Beeping?
Why is it that whenever there is a computer in a show or movie, it has to make all kinds of beeping sounds? It seems to be most common in science fiction and action where things are supposed to be “high tech.” So why does high tech have to mean annoying?
It’s not just the sounds that come from the high tech devices, there’s usually a variety of blinking lights and flashy interface to go with it. The strange thing is that none of these things seem to make the device more efficient to use, and actually seem to make them less useful.
The worst example of this trend is the show CSI: Miami, which is a science-based police drama (but it usually ends up with lab technicians engaging in shootouts). They use computers with ridiculously flashy interfaces and transparent screens. For example:
How do they work with those screens all day? Why would you make a screen transparent? Don’t you usually want to see what’s on the screen and not what’s behind it? Weird.
So utterly true.
Oh wait, my keyboard is beeping as I type…*sigh*
Why are High tech computers always portrayed as making obnoxious beeping noises. Because we have all heard them so much, I guess we think they are high tech.
I’m willing to bet that someone believes that it’s a combination that both convinces people that things are getting done when they can’t see keystrokes being made very well and that… well… imagine all the sounds being removed. Perhaps someone believes that multiple layers create a certain audio ascetic that keeps the show interesting, possibly adding tension and such.
A good example would be that I enjoy watching supernatural shows but they always throw in these stupid sound effects in an attempt to make it more dramatic and scary than it really is considering often there’s not all that much happening on screen, and quite honestly I’m willing to bet that far fewer people would watch it because it would otherwise be shows of people talking into camcorders in the middle of the night with a slim-to-none chance of anything happening.
I mean, I’m no expert on how to make “good” TV but that’s my guess.