Video killed the radio star? Nah…the internet did.
My wife got me an xmas present I had always wanted this year. A Kloss/Tivoli model 1 radio:
It’s wonderful design. Simplicity in its form…well made…sensual…and it sounds good, too! But it left me in a predicament…
I’ve always wanted one of these radios. It’s one of those products you buy and never need to throw away because it’s simply perfect. Alas, upon opening the package, plugging it in and playing with it a bit something hit me: I have absolutely no use for the radio anymore.
Radio is dead. Well, getting there. At least your standard fare of FM classic-rock-best-of-the-80s-todays-new-urban-cool-country schlock and AM talking heads. I maybe listen to an hour or two of MPR during the day, and will frantically use the scan button in the car during the morning commute, but, overall, it’s my iPod + the internet.
Even NPR is aware of this. Shows like Future Tense and On The Media are now podcasting. Most any other show can be streamed via one format or the other or synched via Audible.com.
To take it a step further, the same is happening with Television. TV shows are now available via Torrents minutes after broadcast. Almost all of the better shows can be rented via Netflix.com. Tivo anyone?
But, to get back to radio, and, more specifically, music, we can see that the biggest frustration is still the fact that the the RIAA still doesn’t get it–and likely, never will. Bram Cohen, the inventor of Bittorrent, had this to say:
In November, he spoke at a Los Angeles awards show and conference organized by Billboard, the weekly paper of the music business. After hobnobbing with “content people” from the record and movie industries, he realized that “the content people have no clue. I mean, no clue. – Wired Magazine
The distributors have figured it out. We have satellite radio, Itunes, podcasting, etc. But yet, the RIAA is still trying to force their canned tastes on us via FM radio and $20 CDs.
And who’s the biggest victim? Me. Because I now have this beautiful radio that I’ll never have any reason to turn on and actually use. Woe is me. ;o)
Since ’80s’ music is all the rage now, perhaps it’s time the Bungles re-released their infamous single with some updated lyrics.
(To be fair, even Tivoli Audio is aware of the issue. They now have their iPal radio for all of use iPod users…which is likely what I’ll exchange my radio for…and the Sirius satellite model which certainly makes my mouth water, but is a tad out of my price range at this time.)
2 Comments
We drove more than 12 hours this holiday season – most of it with the iPod playing through the car stereo (music or podcasts) or nothing playing through the car stereo. I can never remember when great shows like On the Media and Sound Money are on. With the On the Media podcast, it no longer matters, I’ll get the show whenever it’s on. As more of NPR/MPR/Chicago PR shows are available as podcats, I’ll happily continue to support public radio. Without podcasts – it’ll become more difficult for me to open my wallet to them.
Well you can set up a FM transmitter on your CPU jukebox and stream to your spiffy new reciever. I just ‘modied’ my belkin transmitter to just a little more reach… Works well around the house.