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The Mac startup chime

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The Mac start up chime. It was updated to it's current form around the time of the Power Mac 9600. That's around 1997. And even that was a tiny change from it's predecessor. My question is why has Apple not changed or updated this sound in so long?

PS. Mods move this topic wherever you see fit. I had no idea where to put it.
 

rman


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The chime to me is just like the corporate logo. When you see the logo, you know it is Apple hardware. When you hear the chime again you know it is Apple hardware.
 

dtravis7


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I hope no one throws any rotten tomatoes at me for this, but make it Steve Balmer screaming! :D

I have NO issues with the chime the way it is.
 
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I *like* the chime! Why hasn't it changed? Easy (he says, tongue in cheek). You can't improve on perfection!
 
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The Titanic Syndrome

Once upon a time, the chime, when the system was screwed up, was replaced by the sound of shattering glass. Now it appears that Apple takes itself too seriously for such frivolity. It's as though that in the face of reality, nothing can possibly go wrong anymore, and that really, Apple is all grown up. There's no room left for such things as the goofy Option-File-About This Mac Easter egg.

Humour is out. Three-piece suits and double-starched underwear are in.
 
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Personally, I don't like it. It's just kind of harsh and jarring, especially when you have to turn your computer on in a library and have no way of silencing the darn thing!!

I wish they would at least make an option to silence it. I downloaded a program to silence it (Startup Sound), but it still goes off! It's just embarrassing when it does that and everyone looks up at you. And it's not very good for Apple's rep when everyone hears it, sees an Apple computer, and then a feeling of annoyance which they then connect to the product.
 
M

MacHeadCase

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You can silence it. On the new Alu keyboard, just type fn + f10 or go to your System Preferences -> Sound -> Output tab -> click on the Mute button.
 
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I just something called "Startup Sound" for my MBP.

I haven't heard that chime in a couple months. It's so useful NOT to hear it. I use my laptop for school, and it would be incredibly irritating to hear that chime halfway through class.
 
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Hit mute on the keyboard before you turn the computer off... It won't chime when you start up. Why would you shut it down so much to hear it often anyways?

Mine don't go off unless I'm out of the house for several days. Laptop is always sleeping when not in use.

I like the chime!
 
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Hit mute on the keyboard before you turn the computer off... It won't chime when you start up. Why would you shut it down so much to hear it often anyways?

Agreed. Unless you like to install your security updates in libraries and during movies, why would you hear it?
 
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It scares the crap out of me when I start up my machine in the middle of the night... lol
 
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Agreed. Unless you like to install your security updates in libraries and during movies, why would you hear it?

Sometimes I have to switch over to Windows for certain programs and then back again. Sometimes the wifi in the library sucks, so I have to switch ti a wired connection and for some reason doing that with the library's internet connection requires me to restart to make it work. And sometimes I just want to restart because a person looks at me funny.

Why is it sometimes when someone posts a situation there's always the "why would you want/have to do that? I don't have to, thus nobody should have to either" comment? It's a little annoying.

You can silence it. On the new Alu keyboard, just type fn + f10 or go to your System Preferences -> Sound -> Output tab -> click on the Mute button.

I don't want to mute the whole system though, I just want to get rid of the chime without having to think about hitting mute before starting up. startup chimes for any system are completely useless anyway other than to announce to everyone what OS you're using for some kind of advertisement.
 
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I *like* the chime! Why hasn't it changed? Easy (he says, tongue in cheek). You can't improve on perfection!

OS 10.4 well with the dot releases became an almost perfect system. And why change/upgrade it, to stay ahead of the game I guess. And the same principle applies to the chime. Personally I think each mac should have it's own distinct chime. Just a little quirk I'd like Apple to do.
 

rman


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I don't want to mute the whole system though, I just want to get rid of the chime without having to think about hitting mute before starting up. startup chimes for any system are completely useless anyway other than to announce to everyone what OS you're using for some kind of advertisement.
The start up chime is part of a diagnostic check. If the system is okay you will hear the regular chime sound meaning all is okay. If not you will hear sound else like the beeping, when bad memory is installed.

The question you are posing is it needed? It is one of those things that has alway been there from the beginning.
 
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I don't want to mute the whole system though, I just want to get rid of the chime without having to think about hitting mute before starting up.
Use these two AppleScripts (saved as applications) instead of the Shut Down and Restart menu items. Leave them on the desktop or put them somewhere and drag their aliases into the dock.

set volume 0
tell application "finder"
shut down
end tell

set volume 0
tell application "finder"
restart
end tell

Write another even shorter, one-line script and include it in the log-in items:

set volume 2

Or

set volume 3

or whatever number best matches your volume setting.

The set volume 0 command mutes the sound for the next startup. The set volume 2 (or whatever) turns the sound back up after the chime would have sounded.

It's a work-around because you'd have to break the habit of using the menu-bar restart/shut-down commands. But I've used these types of scripts since System 7, so they're second-nature now. (The scripts are a tad more complicated in systems 7-9.)
 
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Thanks Brown, I'll give it a try.
 

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