Most Annoying Ringtone Infographic

Phones can be the cause of a lot of stress, but some people do seem to want to take it to extremes.

©2015 James Mathurin

Most annoying ringtone

The most annoying Mobile telephone ringtone ever was developed by Sigmund Elfin, Of Stavangar, Norway. On a family trip home, he went into his childhood bedroom. “Growing up, I would often be woken by the sounds of pigs being slaughtered in the abattoir, which is just across the street from my bedroom window,” he explained later, “And I realised it was a part of my childhood I really missed. I was filming with my camcorder at the time, and I was recording while a pig was being slaughtered. I was able to extract the sounds when I got home, and engineered them into an MP3 ringtone. When I tried it for the first time, I blacked out, and when I came around I had smashed my phone. I played the ringtone to other people, with a similar effect. When people hear my phone ring, they have an irresistible urge to destroy it, and me.”

Sigmund Elfin, pictured here in the last known image of him, taken by himself, with a mobile phone with his ringtone programmed into it, on the 14th June 2005. All that was found was the destroyed phone, and a trail of Elfin's clothes, leading from a smashed window to the woods by his home. The photo is reproduced by permission of copyright owners kencf0618.

©2009 James Mathurin