Dial-up internet reached most homes in the 1990s through telephone modems that literally called an internet provider and negotiated a connection in audible tones. That negotiated handshake was never meant as entertainment, but it became a shared daily ritual until broadband replaced it in the 2000s. Online, the recording survived as shorthand for old technology, long waits and connections about to fail. It is still dropped into memes, videos and streams whenever modern wifi behaves like it has travelled back thirty years.