In the 15 years that this blog has been publishing, we’ve probably told you to visit SolidSignal.com tens of thousands of times. It’s the entire purpose of this operation, not that we try to hide it. With the company’s 20th anniversary coming up, It’s time to look back on how this phrase, once rarely used, became associated with one of the largest e-commerce operations in the world.
Starting with the words
The term “solid signal” means a signal with few drops or flaws. In the world of broadcasting, it means a signal that is acceptable, more than good enough to make sure you can watch, listen, or stream without problems.
It’s the word “solid” that makes you wonder. Signals are ethereal things without weight or mass. Why would we use the word “solid” to refer to them? The term “solid signal” has been in use for a very long time and I’m not sure anyone knows precisely why it gained favor. I have my ideas, though:
- It just sounds right: the two words share the same pattern of accents: “SO-lid SIG-nal.” Both words start with the same letter which makes it seem sort of official.
- “Solid” was a slang term in the late 1960s and early 1970s meaning, roughly, “I agree and I find that desirable.”
- Many early signal meters had audio feedback. The meter would beep ever more quickly until you got the maximum possible signal. At that point the beeps were so close together that it sounded like one continuous, solid, signal.
- The word “solid” is the opposite of “dashed” when it comes to lines, and a signal with no gaps therefore would be a solid signal.
As I said, I don’t know for sure which of these really is the basis for the term, or if all of them are.
How it came to be used for SolidSignal.com
Founder Jerry Chapman once relayed to me that as he was founding the company, he was looking for a catchy name. This was the early 2000s, the start of the “Web 2.0” dot-com boom. In order to succeed, you needed a catchy name that no one else was using. Reading the user support forums at the time, he came across the term “solid signal” and was surprised no one had registered it as a web domain. So, he did.
In the last 20 years, competitors have come and gone but Solid Signal has remained the go-to source for everything you need to live your best digital life. When we started, Amazon was a bookstore, eBay was a place that only catered to people selling used stuff, and no one even knew what an Etsy was. And yet, we’re still here while practically every other web site started in 2002 is gone. Why? Solid customer service. Solid value. And of course, a selection of measuring equipment to help you get your own Solid Signal.
If you’re still not convinced after hearing the story, give us a try! Check out the great selection at SolidSignal.com. If you need help, pick up the phone! Unlike practically every other web site out there, we not only give you our phone number but we actually answer! Give us a try during East Coast business hours at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you, usually within 24 hours.
