You guys are too young. Back in the early 80s computer didn't make any noise. A C64 was quiet as a mouse, so was an Amiga 500. The only noise it made was the ticking of the disk drive. (Usually no HDD in those and no fans)
I have both at home right now, and I am always wishing my gaming rig next to them would be that quiet, and not sound like a hoover going into overdrive.
Ah, nostalgia. Now, where are my rose tinted glasses?
p.s. Oh yeah I forgot about the monitor whine, but hey that's because I have a permanent tinnitus that sounds exactly the same and usually tune it out... wonder where I got it from?
Shhhlooop... and gone