The chime was useful to know when the computer had finished its test and was about to boot, or rather, to count boot cycles. 'Zapping the PRAM', or, on modern

The chime was useful to know when the computer had finished its test and was about to boot, or rather, to count boot cycles. 'Zapping the PRAM', or, on modern systems, NVRAM, is a useful diagnostic trick and has fixed a lot of problems on a lot of the machines I manage, and for a lot of people I don't. The standard instructions I gave were very easy to follow: 1. Hold down Command-Option-P-R 2. Keep them held down until you hear the chime twice 3. Release as soon as you hear the second chime Done! Simple instructions anyone can follow; grandparents, children, lawyers, whoever. Now that the chime is gone, those instructions are useless, and I'm not sure what instructions I'll be giving people to help them through the process. "Hold it down for thirty seconds" maybe?