“It was necessary to reintroduce sounds into the circuit so people would know that the call was still being processed. ‘Comfort noise’ is what the engineers called it, their condescending way of responding to the needs of their customers. The sounds are far more than ‘comfort.’ They are implicit communication, confirming that the circuit is still active, informing the telephone caller that the system is still in the process of making the connection. And, yes, that implicit confirmation is reassuring, comforting.”(P63)
I definitely agree with Norman’s point of “comfort noise” is needed and implicit confirmation is reassuring, comforting. As he speaks to the hisses and the noises while the phone is progressing for a connection, it reminds me of some experiences of my childhood. My father often travelled back and forth between Guangzhou and Hongkong when I was young. In most cases, those trips were often last minute decision so he could not inform me in advance. So I had a habit that I would call him at the exact time he got off work. Then I listened to the beep tone in the phone, because the beep tone was quite different between a domestic call and an international call (yes…calling a Hongkong number was an international call. And even now, it is still an international call!!), so I can tell whether my father was in Hongkong or on his way home in Guangzhou. For the first couple of times, my dad would pick up the phone to tell me where he was heading. Then after a few times, he knew my intention and we kind of reaching a consensus that he would not pick up the phone because he knew exactly why I called and I did not need him to pick up the phone to tell me because the beep tone have already told me. So to me, the dialing beeps were actually communicating with me. Although the message is simple enough just to tell me “Your father is in Hongkong now” or “Your father is in Guangzhou”, it is still a communication between the phone and me.
When interacting with a piece of technology, people need to know the progresses—what is going on? I believe sound is a critical component to provide an informative, confirmative and reassuring feedback. As Norman says:
“Sounds and vibrations provide natural indicators, implicit signals of important conditions.”(P64)
I believe sounds and vibrations are important indicators for an automobile, such as cars, airplanes, or even ships, that is, every transport facilities that with an engine. I travelled a lot by plane since I was 10. But I should say I am not a big fan of airplanes because basically the plane is not under my control. In here, by saying control, I do not mean that to drive or something, it is simply a sense of knowing clearly of the environment around. For cars, although I am not the one to drive it, but I can still see clearly what is happening outside. The environment is so close to me. But in an airplane, the cabin is actually sealed and the windows are not large enough to provide a panoramic view. So the sound of the engine and the vibrations when it counters turbulence are indicators of my safety. I would get nervous when I heard the sound of the engine switched to a high pitch and this nervousness would repaired me for the emergency escape if something bad indeed happened.
Another example, which is commonly seen nowadays, some people modify their engines and switch their exhaust pipe only to magnify the sound when the car accelerates. For them, the sound increases the sense of speed.
In summary, sound is one of the important components for the modern devises to make interaction with people. As Norman says: “ Although quiet can be good, it can also be dangerous.”(P63)Nowadays, especially for the automobile designers, they are too concentrate on reducing the noises and vibrations to create a more comfortable environment for users that they forget both these two elements can act as natural indicators and provide feedback of the environment to the users.
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