For anyone who experienced it, the screeching hiss of a modem handshaking over copper phone wires is unforgettable. The technology may have tied up the family phone line, but modems were the gateways to a fascinating digital world parallel to our own.

In the slides that follow, we'll look at modem history from its genesis in the 1950s to the present. An immense range of modems have appeared over the years, so this slideshow is by no means comprehensive. However, it offers a quick survey of nonwireless modem history.