Modems

It's kinda funny how the word "modem" has been almost completely changed since it's inception.

At first modem was short for "modulator/demodulator" because the device modulated, or converted, digital data from computers into analog signals that could be transmitted over phone lines to other modems which then converted the signals back into digital data for computer use again (that btw, was "dial-up" for anyone that missed the experience).

Nowadays, "modem" it just whatever device a computer uses to access the Internet, even if there is no modulating going on at all, this is especially so for cable, DSL, ISDN, and most modern phone lines which are in fact all digital so no intermediate conversion for transmission is required.

I guess it just turns out that we like the word "modem" even if it doesn't mean anything.

-Ethan