Clearly money or techno-determinism is at play.
Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
41–50 of 289 posts
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#42Don't most smartphones have emergency broadcasts built-in these days? Who doesn't have their phone on them when they're driving in a car?
> Who doesn't have their phone on them when they're driving in a car?
Who's checking their texts when they're driving a car? Thankfully, that's a ticketable offense in my area now.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you sure your phone doesn't have an FM radio? A lot of phones have it built-in (just need to have headphones plugged in for the antenna), but don't advertise it much.
But without a custom rom it isn't exposed. This is part of the conspiracy by my mobile carrier to make me buy their hella expensive data plan.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#44Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anyone who doesn't own a mobile/cell phone?
A quickly vanishing segment of people. Probably not worth worrying about.
Personally, a cellphone hasn't become a routine item for me. I don't really carry one at the ready, though I have a few without plans. When necessary I pay for a month and charge one up.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#46I like that the UK will switch over once usage reaches 50% -- abandoning a huge number of listeners! They should abandon it when it becomes vestigial -- say more than L5K/listener/year or something like that. Clearly money or techno-determinism is at play.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#47As a US citizen, I cannot imagine a world without FM radio. It's almost the only option for in-vehicle audio. I've heard of such a thing as AM radio, but outside of billboards stating that accident information on interstate highways is available via that frequency, I have no connection to it. I've heard pray-tell that NPR broadcasts on such frequencies as well, but I can neither confirm nor deny that. I suspect that…
Also, satellite radio is common.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#48I don't know if owning a radio is legally required in Norway but if it isn't I can see the radio ownership going down. Once again you may ask so what?
The biggest issue (for me) is that radio plays an essential part in crisis management. Imagine a long term power outage or some other crisis. With radios it's mostly a matter of keeping stations running and making sure the population knows that a battery powered (or crank powered) radio such as a car radio will work during a power outage. That's one of the few reliable ways of mass-communicating important information during power outages.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#49I visited my hometown over the holidays, and the first thing I did after getting into the rental car was tune into the local Alt Rock FM station. The playlists (and most of the DJs) haven't change in the 10 years since high school. I kinda loved it.
Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe it. That's not nearly enough bits.
It seems that to achieve the same perceived quality as FM you need about 160kbit/s (when using DAB). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_broadcasting