Radio is dead
Webmastering by KimBoo York
We've heard over and over that radio is dead. First came vinyl (okay, not first, but let's not be too technical here): Why would people listen to the radio at home when they could buy the music? Then tapes: Why would people listen to the radio in their car when they could just pop in a cassette? Then MTV: Why on earth would people just listen to radio when they could see it?
But radio lives on — in our cars, in boom-boxes, and in our home stereo systems. However, the death knells are ringing, and the era of radio is close to its end. The Web will wipe it out.
Admittedly, that sounds far fetched. But it isn't, and I'll tell you why: Within ten years, you will have high-bandwidth access to the Web from your car, from hand-held units, and from your home's intercom system. The technology to do all of this is already here, it just isn't ready for mass market production, nor can our current standards of Internet access handle the high band-width we would need. But it is all on the horizon.
Still, you say, you like having music channels with pre-programmed music. That is the allure of radio: it just keeps going and you don't have to fuss with it except to change stations or turn it off. Well, welcome to Nirvana, because on the Web it is even better than that. Think about a radio station that only plays the narrowly selected music you like, doesn't have any annoying disc jockeys, and almost no ads.
If you haven't explored the pleasures of Web radio, here's a tour to get you started.
A good place to begin is Real <www.real.com>, the makers of the ubiquitous and free Real Player. The player is actually just software that you can download which plays audio files on your computer or from the Web. You can upgrade to the RealPlayer Plus G2 for $30, which handles video as well, but you don't have to. There are other players out there, but this one is the best and most widely supported.
Once you have downloaded the player, it's time to jump on the Web to go find some music. The first stop should be Net Radio <www.netradio.net> which is the biggest and best Web radio network around. Go ahead, browse the site. You will see that they have about 20 different channels of music — country, classical, rock, jazz, and more. If you click on any of those selections, you will discover that each channel actually has sub-channels, like "50s Rock" or "Big Band Swing" or "Baroque Classical." Overall, they have over 150 different choices. When you finally choose from the mind-boggling options, the Web site automatically starts your Real Player, and music fills your ears! It is really very easy.
Another large network is Spinner.com <www.spinner.com>. They, too, have over 100 stations to tune in and listen to. Their tag line pretty much says it all: "Get Spinner and escape from radio hell!" Spinner doesn't support Real Player, but that is not a problem since they offer both browser-based listening or the option to download their proprietary player, SpinnerPlus.
Once you get comfortable, you might want to check out other options for music or talk radio — there are plenty. You can even listen to local radio stations on line, since most of them are "streaming" their shows over the Web as well as the air-waves (a real blessing if you are trapped at work without access to a radio). The number of shows and channels you can reach over the Web is substantial, and I can't possibly list them all here. A good directory is at About.com <www.about.com> (formerly called Miningco.com) under their Home>Entertainment>Radio section <internetradio.about.com>. There you can find links to everything from local talk radio shows to special live event broadcasts or, one of my favorites, National Public Radio <www.npr.org>, which offers all of its radio shows as on-demand streaming programs.
Of course, nothing is perfect, and Internet-based radio certainly has its flaws. If you don't have a reasonably high-speed connection — a 36.6k modem at least — then your reception will be choppy. Even a very high-speed connection may result in bad reception if the Web is busy (like during peak hours). There is also the chance that heavy traffic can completely bump your link to the station you are listening to. Very popular stations, such as Netradio's modern- alternative channel "The X," can be hard to link to in the first place because of the huge server demands. But, during the next year or so, Internet radio will iron out these problems, much as FM radio stations did during the big FM migration of 1960.
In a few years the problems will literally be history, and Internet radio won't be confined to just your computer terminal. My forecast is that once Internet access becomes a standard feature in new cars — possibly within five years — radio as we know it will be relegated to the same status AM air-wave stations have today: Only for the desperate.
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