Radio must change to adapt to the technologically advancing world we see around us today. If radio has any chance of surviving, it will need to cut some dead weight. Namely, it will have to get rid of DJs and the local broadcasting stations. Today, technology is all about personalization. The future of internet radio is bright because unlike regular radio, you can personalize your own play list and choose the songs you want to listen to. Online radio stations such as Pandora.com brought along this revolutionary idea but they fall short. Anyone can just go onto iTunes and make a play list of the songs they already have on there. The think that radio needs to do again is become portable. I remember carrying around a portable radio device when I was younger. Now that technology has advanced and everything is about making the radio match what you want to hear, the radio must be just as personalized as your MP3 player yet become portable, thus not restricting you to your computer at home.
A company named Slacker has answered this call. They have made a portable device where you make stations of artists and related artists that you would like to listen to online and then download it onto your Slacker Portable Internet Radio Device. Whats even better is that you can also use this device as an MP3 player so you can be sure to hear your favorite songs whenever you wish. A couple problems with this device are that even though it has a large screen, it is not a touch screen which would be huge for applying to the tech savvy youth of today who already have touch screen cell phones. Another downside is that though you can select a station to play your favorite artists and related artists, you cannot select specific songs to be put on your station, just hope that your favorites are included in that artist's music. The MP3 feature would be nice in cases like this but it would be awesome if they adjusted how station play lists are made so that individual songs could be selected from a list.
The last thing that makes this so innovative is that the internet radio service is free. It is paid for by advertisements so once you buy the device you can listen for free. Of course because you do not pay, there will be advertisements that you must listen to and song-skipping ability is limited. You do also have the option to pay under $8 per month to become a subscriber. With this service, you can skip between songs freely and may also skip the advertisements. I think it would be well worth $8 per moth to have free radio stations that I designed follow me everywhere and be able to listen to them advertisement free.
While this device has a few bugs to work out and a few things to consider, it is pure proof of just how much radio is changing to serve the public. Even more important than the slacker device is the windows it opens. If there is a portable internet radio device, how far off are we from having internet radio streaming from our cell phones? How long until automobiles come standard with a navigation system, which is connected to the internet, which also acts as our source of radio in the car? The way we receive our radio is changing and the songs we hear are starting to be left up to us. Slacker is the first big step in helping internet radio become as mobile as broadcast radio.
3 comments:
I love the internet radio. I use Pandora all the time. It is so nice all you have to do is put in one song you like and it plays all different songs that are around that same kind. I love that they discoverd this.
Actually Pandora can be used on-the-go now, with service enable on iPhones and other high-tech gadgets. If I had an iPhone, I would most definitely download the Pandora application. I was skeptical of using Pandora at first, but I've found that the more you use it, the better it gets. The more 'thumbs up/down' I give, Pandora gets better at predicting my musical tastes. I haven't personally used Slacker radio, but a few of my friends do and they seem to prefer it to Pandora. I'll have to give it a try.
I think this is interesting. I think you make a good connection as to how internet radio such as this will end up in peoples cars. It makes sense, cause, as you stated, navigation systems being connected why not internet radio. Also, i agree with you on the fact that paying the 8 bucks a month for no ads is pretty sweet.
On a side note, I have not heard of wither of these two web pages so i'll have to check them out.
oh, you should check out the "Radio Cube".
Post a Comment