John Draper
“Captain Crunch”The Original Phone Phreak
The 2600 Hz whistle that opened the phone network
Rating
94Impact score
Domains
Phone phreakingBlue boxes
Scouting report
Discovered that a toy whistle packed in a cereal box produced the exact 2600 Hz tone AT&T used to signal a free trunk line. The blue-box scene that grew from it pulled in two young Californians named Wozniak and Jobs, and drew the blueprint for every generation of hacker that followed.
Curator’s note
Patient zero for hacker culture. The whistle is the artifact of the century.
Sources
- 01John Draper en.wikipedia.org
- 02Blue box — the 2600 Hz signalling exploit en.wikipedia.org