A modem (modulate demodulate) is a network device that modulates and demodulates analog carrier signals (called sine waves) to encode and decode digital information to be processed (Janssen C 2014 ) . The most common use of modems is for both sending and receiving digital information between personal computers and connecting to the Internet. The modem is considered an important piece of computer hardware, and in the past most computers came with a built-in modem, but many manufacturers no longer include it due to the growing popularity of broadband connections. This essay will concisely discuss the history of the modem and highlight key developments in this technology. It will also highlight the factors that influenced this technology and present its current characteristics. Modems were created to allow teletypewriters to communicate over regular telephone lines. When the U.S. Air Force needed a practical way to transmit hundreds of radar images to command centers during the Cold War, in the late 1940s, it turned to the telephone system and modems as a solution (Dalakov 2014). Thus, the first digital modem was developed in the 1950s. In 1962, the first commercial modem was manufactured: the Bell 103 from AT&T. The Bell 103 was also the first modem with full-duplex transmission, frequency shift keying, and a speed of 300 bits per second (Wright 2014). For many years, AT&T had a monopoly on the telephone system in the United States, so only AT&T could provide modems to work on its network (Edwards 2014). Companies got around this restriction by inventing the acoustic coupler, which connected a radio or modem to the telephone system via a holder into which the user placed a standard telephone handset. In this way, the modem c...... middle of paper ......efinition/24118/modem>.Milian, M, 2013, Top 10: Where to find the fastest Internet in the world, accessed April 1, 2014, .Oxford, T, 2009, The world's first PC modem, accessed April 1, 2014, .Pillai, P, 2013, Untitled Prezi, accessed April 1, 2014,< http://prezi.com/ bkiaw8rznw3x/untitled-prezi/>. Wikipedia, 2014, Hayes Microcomputer Products, accessed April 1, 2014, .Wikipedia, 2014, Modem, accessed April 1, 2014, .Wright, S, 2014, History of Dial up modems, accessed April 1 2014, .