Silencing The PC

LCDs tend to top the list of ergonomic concerns when it comes to computers, but the Wall Street Journal has an article today discussing the "growing movement" of "quiet computing." Apple has made the low volume-noise of the Mac mini an advertising point and Dell apparently has an "acoustic lab" where tests are carried out to ensure their computers live up to their quiet standards. The article goes on to mention such sites as SilentPCReview.com. Silencers are out to put an end to "loud gaming PCs" which produce upwards of 55 decibels. The golden mean of sound should be 20 decibels or below, "a sound all but inaudible, even close by." Some go as far as suspending disk drives in hammocks "made of elastic bands." The issue has grown recently due to media-center PCs which have brought computer noise to the living room.