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It's a shame what's happened to radio

blog.jimgrey.net

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Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#91

Post by paganel »

parpfish wrote: post #2

There’s a human connection element to old radio that streaming will never replicate. And I worry that it’s gone from modern automated radio too. It used to be if you were driving down the road and heard a song you liked Hearing a song you liked on the radio hit harder then playing it yourself because you knew that there was another human nearby at that moment in time that had picked it out and played it. You were phy…

You can still listen to the radio while driving, many people still do that, I still do that. I agree though that in essence streaming is a very alienating experience.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#92

Post by stereolambda »

smelendez wrote: post #68
Marsymars wrote: post #14

But some weird happenstance I've only recently started listening to radio, and I find it pretty good? The commercial stations are basically all unbearable, but my metro area has a half-dozen public/community/campus stations that can be enjoyable or interesting. I just drove home, and spent 20 minutes listening to a host on the radio talking to a researcher about evolved preferences for non-mates in humans. It was pre…

I enjoy the radio. I have a few stations I’ll cycle through at home and in the car. But all nonprofit/college /etc. Most US commercial radio is very bad. I don’t really understand why the playlists are so small, and why they don’t even occasionally play lesser-known songs by the big acts. Like, why don’t classic rock stations play deeper cuts by Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, etc. instead of the same hit singles over and o…

A large chunk of people turn off/change the station on anything they don't like, which may be because of even slight unfamiliarity. I remember myself being this way when very young. Even today playlist radios sometimes have popular tracks in the format that I really hate, and this can also cause me to switch. This is even worse if that track is sure to be played 10+ times a day...

Anyway, this unfamiliarity switching is presumably a big deal for profit. Also, if you switch to a station and you're not hooked, this is also a problem: and a for-profit radio will irritate new listeners anyway with ads. There's a cycle in my local area (in Europe) of radio stations that were a little more adventurous, even formed with staff leaving from somewhere else. They end up again and again folding or even bought out by the same boring format radio they had left. Presumably, advertisers don't like them based on the stats etc.

People are right that this is an old problem by now. In 1990s-2000s that soulless commercialism of old media even contributed to popularity of the internet, when ironically that was the alternative place.

And now for quite some time we have people presenting avoiding challenging the user in slightest beneficial ways as some sort of moral argument. So to be clear, I also think this dynamic is bad.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#93

Post by kanbankaren »

user2722 wrote: post #71
waveforms wrote: post #12

The removal of FM radio from cell phones was a big mistake. It should never have allowed. Radio is very useful in emergencies. Lately I have been getting back in to internet radio, mostly via Elisa in KDE. Here is my favorite internet stream: https://hawaiireggaenetwork.com/

Agree. The only problem about radio is requiring wired headphones to serve as antenna. Do flagship Snapdragon SOCs still have radio? Thinking about next GOS compatible Motorola-branded device, the first device GOS will support with Snapdragon.

My current Android phone has a FM radio that doesn't even require a wired headphone as the FM antenna is built-in. If you connect your BT headset, the FM station is heard through the BT headset in full stereo.

Of course, it is a Chinese brand who haven't forsaken FM radios. Apparently, Europeans still prefer a FM radio on their smartphones that Chinese brands that sell in Europe still retain them.

Here in USA, people don't seem to care about radio.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#95

Post by w4der »

imp0cat wrote: post #43
mp107 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most smartphones do include most of the FM radio circuitry in the chip used also for Bluetooth connectivity for example. It's just a choice of the manufacturer to do not implement it completely, sometimes in hardware, sometimes in software. Several years ago there was SpiritFM application for Android that allowed to use FM radio on smartphones that sometimes never supported FM radio... oficially. So the only missing…

The 3.5mm jack is the other missing piece required for that FM receiver to work - and that's not coming back any time soon.

My Moto X4's FM radio worked well enough without the headphones plugged in, but you needed really good reception.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#96

Post by netsharc »

parpfish wrote: post #2

There’s a human connection element to old radio that streaming will never replicate. And I worry that it’s gone from modern automated radio too. It used to be if you were driving down the road and heard a song you liked Hearing a song you liked on the radio hit harder then playing it yourself because you knew that there was another human nearby at that moment in time that had picked it out and played it. You were phy…

When I opened https://radio.garden/ and spun the globe the first time, I tuned to a radio station somewhere in Africa, and it gave me tingles to think that in Lagos at that same moment, some bus driver was surely listening to the same music.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#97

Post by guelo »

I was always a fan of talk radio. In the late 80s and early 90s there were so many diverse and interesting talk radio shows. And many times they were local and accessible, I was able to get on the air several times. But then Rush Limbaugh exploded and eventually angry right wing politics took over everything except sports and NPR.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#98

Post by lkramer »

veltas wrote: post #90
petepete wrote: post #89

I'm so thankful for the BBC. I listen to Radio 4 through the day when I'm working on things that don't need my full concentration. It's the alarm that wakes me at 0630 and I often listen to the news before bed. Adverts drive me insane. It's a national treasure and I'd pay the licence fee again just for R4 + Sounds.

Also listened in the car but since they've recently shut down the LW tower I can't receive it anymore in the midlands, only occasionally get FM signal.

It might not work in your scenario, but I too listen to radio a lot and found the signal issues annoying. My car is pretty old and doesn't have aux/bluetooth input so I can't plug in my phone and use the Sounds app, but I got a bluetooth to FM signal transmitter and now listen to my phone through my car radio, including a lot of streaming radio.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#99

Post by RyJones »

Jim Grey and I knew all the same people at WMHD yet somehow never ran into each other. I was an annoying high school student. Ron Dippold (he ran usenet votes for a long time) was there, among others.

When I was digging through old VHS tapes, I digitized a couple TV spots and put them on youtube; passing them along to Jim.

Best advice I got when I got to San Jose was from an old recruiter - she must have been 30!

She said the Bay Area is big, but the Silicon Valley is small.

I think about her advice a lot.

The radio world is even smaller. I tried out at WZZQ when I was in high school, but didn't make the cut.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#100

Post by jraph »

safety1st wrote: post #79
lostlogin wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you really want a reaction here, announce that you use your phone speaker or a Bluetooth one out in public.

In the 90s I knew a guy in high school who walked around the school in a black trenchcoat with portable speakers tucked inside that were continuously playing Western movie themes. I can only imagine how that bit of creativity would go over these days.

I suppose it was rare enough and somewhat fun in the 90s. Maybe that guy was doing this for others to enjoy as well, or to appear singular (whether it worked or not).

Nowadays it wouldn't appear particularly exotic (portable speakers are ubiquitous) and people playing loud music (from speakers or phones) seem to do this for themselves without caring about the surrounding people, that's just highly egotistical and self-centered. It's usually not music I personally like too.

That's not fun, it's just annoying. There's already too much noise in our cities.

But if you do it right, playing (singular) music for others, reading the room and all, I'm sure it can still work.

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