The forgotten origin story of the iPhone's 'tri-tone' text message sound

It was originally created for a '90s mp3 player

iPhone
(Image credit: Gene Blevins/LA DailyNews/Corbis)

It's the familiar sound that emanates from millions of tiny pocket computers countless times a day, a friendly Pavlovian signal that says, "Hey! Someone wants to talk to me."

Yep, we're talking about the iPhone's famous "tri-tone" message alert, which comes as the factory default for every little Apple machine. And now, thanks to producer Kelly Jacklin, we know where this sound came from.

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Chris Gayomali is the science and technology editor for TheWeek.com. Previously, he was a tech reporter at TIME. His work has also appeared in Men's Journal, Esquire, and The Atlantic, among other places. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.