Retronym

[fuzzyjay]

I saw this on the web and was taken aback:

"...the mobile HDDs also demonstrate reduced acoustic noise and are scheduled to ship next quarter, the spokesperson said." (emphasis added)

I guess it's acoustic as opposed to digital noise. It just seemed weird. It's another retronym thanks to the digital age.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Isn't it digital as opposed to analog? i'm not sure why they used the word acoustic with noise, as acoustic means relating to sound, and noise of course is sound...

[fuzzyjay.livejournal.com]

That's the irony of it all. Now that there's digital noise, we have to have a way of referring to the original type of noise... which is acoustic noise. Wikipedia has more examples of retronyms.

[urbear]

I think they're trying to distinguish between acoustic, audible noise and electronic noise... i.e. static or interference that obscures the original signal. That's not necessarily digital... in fact, it's much more of a problem in analog electronics. "Noise" has been used in the electronic sense for at least 50 years, maybe as far back as the invention of the telegraph.

[fuzzyjay.livejournal.com]

Okay, Mr. Pedantica (that's Paco's nickname for me).

I was commenting on the necessity to invent the phrase "acoustic noise". That phrase would not have been necessary not so long ago. Back in the day, there was only one kind of noise... and we were glad to have it.

Like "acoustic guitar" which was just plain "guitar" before electric guitars came along.

¿Comprendes?

[urbear]

Comprende, and maybe I was being a little pedantic. But they're talking about an electronic device; a comment that distinguishes between acoustic and electronic noise wouldn't have been out of place in an article written in the 50's.