Life-changing Toys

I’m much too old to be getting toys for Christmas, but I got a terrific one this year (or should I say last?) from Santa: an Internet radio.

Now I think this is way cool, though geeks would probably call it primitive. With this device you can hear audio streams without a computer. Thousands of radio stations in the U.S. and around the world put their live audio on their Web sites, and the Internet radio allows you to search for your favorites and set them up on pushbuttons, just like a car radio. If there’s breaking news in a particular city, you can “tune” in a station there and hear how the locals cover it. The really interesting part is listening to the same stations that local listeners hear, not available on short wave. I can listen to the radio station where I used to work in a distant city. To expand horizons a little, I have taken to listening to a newscast on Jamaica’s Nationwide News Network. Just hearing the accents makes me warm – it was about 82 degrees there the other day. In addition to that, the country’s prime minister recently announced all kinds of tax breaks for businesses and individuals, if I heard the story correctly. Maybe that makes you feel warm.

Sure, you can find all this stuff on your laptop, but I’m old enough to want to work with a box with a speaker and knobs on it. Another nice part is that no keyboard is required. So much enjoyable software involves having to use a mouse and a keyboard, so it feels like you never leave the office. The Internet radio involves new technology installed in an old, familiar package. I recall someone saying that the only reason we have been using CDs and DVDs is that they are discs with holes in the middle, just like the old vinyl records, and that the disc design was the only way to make a successful transition from the old to the new.

This could all get me started on why we need radio and TV stations with expensive transmitters consuming power and radiating energy, or why we need an FCC to license and regulate them, since the ability to “broadcast” is no longer a limited resource. But we’re barely into the New Year, and I wanted to put off the axe-grinding till at least the next post.

There, now I’ve said it.