Why do all new appliances have to beep?

German new media developer Raul Krauthausen asks himself (on Google+): why do all new appliances have to beep? Wieso müssen alle neuen elektrischen Geräte piepen? The basic question of all cultural theory and design theory about functional sounds. The following discussion (in german) is living proof of the still surprising and irritating nature of sounding machines and gadgets in our daily lives. Since it all started just a decade ago – a development primed by a vast amount of anticipated sounds in movies, especially in science fiction movies. Some comments from the thread: »Meine Waschmaschine macht sogar Musik! Grauenhaft!« – »soll wohl so ein high tech startrek gefühl vermitteln. dabei nervt es in wirklichkeit nur« – »Wenn die ganzen Geräte erstmal zentral von Siri oder einem vergleichbarem Sprachrohr ihren Status ausgeben lassen, also in etwa drei Jahren, wird’s erst richtig trekkig … ;)«