Slide back in time, if you will, to the year 2007. Musical ringtones resounded on cellphones, marking their owners' identities in public spaces.
Little more than a decade later, these sonic signifiers are close to disappearing. Recording Industry Association of America sales data shows that ringtone downloads, which peaked in 2007, have taken a 97 percent dive since then.
These days, the iPhone's standard "marimba" ring is the most popular tone — if a tone is used at all. More often, phones just buzz. The Emily Post Institute, in its advice on mobile phone etiquette, recommends that if a cell "must be on," then it should make no sound.
Preloaded rings offer a mellower tintinnabulation, but those sounds are often silenced, too. Along with the notion that loud rings equal poor manners, researchers have argued that even lighter beeps and vibrations can disrupt and distract, curtailing one's productivity.
Granted, there are holdouts like Annie Heckenberger, a vice president at the Digitas Health ad agency, whose phone announces an incoming call by playing "Brass Monkey" by the Beastie Boys.
"It typically is an icebreaker," said Heckenberger, who usually gets bemused looks from people who are nearby when her phone rings.
Linwood Harris would prefer that his phone stand out in a crowded room. He used to have Al Pacino shouting "Say hello to my little friend," the iconic salutation from "Scarface," on a loop as his ringtone, but he got tired of the screaming.
"When you have the right one, it's kind of soothing," the retired assistant principal said. Now, when someone's calling, it's to Sade's "Smooth Operator."