The Future of Radio

Marconi meets Berners-Lee,
by Tom Ersin, February 14, 2008

Internet radio is here. But most home radio listeners are still tuning in to their local stations. The primary reasons for this are fidelity, familiarity, and convenience; most consumers still don’t look at the computer as being as easily accessible as the radio or stereo.

Now, when the day comes when most households have all-inclusive Internet Radio: "On Air" entertainment systems — computer, stereo, television, surround sound, garage door opener, wet bar, sleep number bed (I’m kidding about the garage door opener) — all operating from the same integrated and centralized command center in the living room, look for things to change. The name of the game is convenience. This will, however, be a mixed bag. Everything will be in one place and sounding and looking great, but the remote will be even more difficult to figure out. So we’ll continue to need kids to show us how it all works — and the kids keep wielding more and more power.

In the automobile it’s a similar issue. Until Internet appliances are common enough to be found in most Chevrolets, local radio is still safe in the car. I realize that Internet capabilities are commonly found in cellphones, but again, convenience is the issue. Until there is an easy way to connect your cellphone Internet radio output to your car stereo — or until they start widely building computers into our dashboards — local radio is safe and satellite radio will still have a chance. Of course, we know the era of computer car stereo integration is coming. I think that will be the death, or at least the crippling, of satellite radio. If I could punch up virtually any radio station in the world on my car radio … I’d never leave the house. ■

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Antique radio

Internet radio is here. But most ... listeners are still tuning in to their local stations. The primary reasons for this are fidelity, familiarity, and convenience; most consumers still don't look at the computer as being as easily accessible as the ... stereo.

Internet radio: earth with headphones

Of course, we know the era of computer car stereo integration is coming. I think that will be the death, or at least the crippling, of satellite radio. If I could punch up virtually any radio station in the world on my car radio … I'd never leave the house.

Virtual radio

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The Future of Radio

Marconi meets Berners-Lee, by Tom Ersin, February 14, 2008

Marconi meets Berners-Lee,
by Tom Ersin, February 14, 2008