For anyone who experienced it, the screeching hiss of a modem handshaking over copper phone wires is unforgettable. The technology may have tied up the family phone line, but modems were the gateways ...

Wow, so much nostalgia, thanks for that! My first modem experience was a standalone terminal with a thermal printer and phone coupler sometime in the early 80s. I have no idea where my dad got it.

Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. Some of the following, for legal reasons, may or may not be ...