OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/23706/NAB_RIAA_Congress_Should_Mandate_FM_Radio_in_Portable_Devices Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2013, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Wed, 22 May 2013 13:23:34 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437532 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437532 How does having an FM radio chip in every phone offer more choices to consumers, when radio (at least in the US) simply plays the same crap over and over? (And why the hell do they assume the term 'consumers' is appropriate in this context?

FM radio is like so 2001. These days, I stream Slacker radio from my phone while in the car. On those rare occasions I don't have my phone with me, the FM radio in my car is tuned to the local top 40 station, and I shit you not... I hear Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' every time I get in the car. And I mean EVERY TIME... on the same station. Without exception. Even during 10 minute commutes they're playing it.

I say forget torture and waterboarding... our government should just put terrorists in a room and play this f**king song over and over again until they beg for mercy. They could also play Lil Wayne, but that would truly be cruel and unusual punishment. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments Stupid, but http://www.osnews.com/thread?437536 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437536 FM chips are tiny and cheap and usually the head set is the antenna and they don't use any battery when you don't use them. So not that big a deal.

My phone has a FM chip and I have used it only once in 2 years .. but I guess it costs next to nothing and being able to listen to football (real football, the European type) if I wanted to is kinda nice although I don't use it. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kragil) Comments RE: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437537 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437537 2001?! FM Radio has been dead for ages..FM Radio is so 1981!! I stopped listening to FM Radio in the 1990s because it stopped playing anything worth listening to....this is basically more failed "stimulus" thrown at me and you, for the purpose of keeping a failed business on life support. Mind you that FM could flourish if it actually played something that people aside from illegals, teenagers and thugs could enjoy. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (techweenie1) Comments RE: Stupid, but http://www.osnews.com/thread?437540 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437540
FM chips are tiny and cheap and usually the head set is the antenna and they don't use any battery when you don't use them. So not that big a deal.


That's the biggest problem with FM tuners in cell phones: they rely on a headphone cable for the antenna. Which means, you can't use the FM tuner with any kind of Bluetooth headset. IOW, it's pretty useless for those of us that have BT headsets, or BT speakers of any kind.

I like listening to the radio now and again, but can't stand the non-standard, bulky connector on my Sony Ericsson w580i phone. So I use a pair of BT headphones. Which means I can't listen to the radio. Even with an (almost full) 8 GB M2 card installed, I get bored of my music, and I also enjoy listening to the CBC now and then. But I can't.

Catch-22. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (phoenix) Comments RE[2]: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437543 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437543
2001?! FM Radio has been dead for ages..


Well, I said 2001 because that's the year that satellite radio came out. Before then, there really was no 'radio-like' alternative that you could get in your car, AFAIK. I wasn't referring to a particular year that FM started to suck ;) Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments Positives http://www.osnews.com/thread?437544 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437544 I live in rural England and - frankly - I always choose a mobile device *with* an FM receiver. An iPhone or even a Nexus One are useless to me since streaming over our painfully slow local EDGE network simply won't work. We also have an incredibly good national spoken word service in BBC Radio 4, and I'm loathe to be without it in the background when I'm out and about.

There's this automatic snobbery about "legacy" technologies like FM radio in the tech world, but for the moment this supposedly obsolete format offers me and others like me the only viable way of consuming live audio on the go. Sure, I could move to a 3G area, but should I have to? FM chips are a real boon, and the main reason I've stuck with my trusty Nokia e71.Edited 2010-08-19 23:21 UTC Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (gloucestershrubhill) Comments RE[3]: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437545 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437545 Here in the UK, despite DAB being introduced some time back, FM goes from strength to strength. The gov.t has said it plans to shut off FM by 2015 (I think), but still the bidding for frequencies is huge---dwarfing DAB.

And of course with regard to it being 'failed' in the sense of not being interest, having the BBC helps keep things pretty high quality with the comedy, drama &c. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (M.Onty) Comments Corporatism http://www.osnews.com/thread?437547 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437547 This is yet another example of corporatism. Here is a video to better understand the chronic issues we have here with corporations partnering with government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9-Y4lSU64 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jjmckay) Comments At least this is technically possible http://www.osnews.com/thread?437548 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437548 every device _could_ have an FM receiver, unlike this other brilliant piece of proposed legislation:
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/17/0138259/Legislation-To-Make-...

my big problem is all the radio I like to listen to is on the AM band ... its hard to find a device that has an AM receiver ... maybe I should start lobbying Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (seanpk) Comments next http://www.osnews.com/thread?437549 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437549 a law that forces everyone to listen to music radio at least 5 hours a day Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Mellin) Comments Comment by jjmckay http://www.osnews.com/thread?437550 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437550 Here's another YT vid that calls out the US economic system:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RTAmerica#p/u/45/W1DchGc07TY Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jjmckay) Comments Dead On http://www.osnews.com/thread?437551 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437551 About government meddling in way too many areas. They seem to be hell bent on controlling every aspect of our lives. Orwell anyone?

On a side note, If they have to interfere, couldn't they AT LEAST mandate HD Radio?Edited 2010-08-20 00:08 UTC Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (johjeff) Comments Competition is already making this happen http://www.osnews.com/thread?437552 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437552 Most feature phones already ship with FM tuners and now smartphones ship with them too.

In Asia, almost all phone, including the $20 phone have FM tuners.
If the RIAA and the other agencies do not really need to do anything to make this happen - it already is.

In don't understand why they want to take such stupid steps. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (asharism) Comments penny arcade broke this to me http://www.osnews.com/thread?437555 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437555 I read the last strip on penny arcade and thought it was a joke but really they weren't far off.

http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/973723162_L3YAQ-L.jpg

I have actively avoided listening to radio for at least the last decade so this could probably be described as: "You don't listen to radio? well you just paid us some money, cheers" Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stabbyjones) Comments Good idea, stupid law http://www.osnews.com/thread?437556 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437556 Here is my take:

Having an FM tuner in every device would be "nice". It is cheap, and would use very little power or space. Many phones already include FM tuners for this reason. If I were to buy a cell phone (which I don't ever plan to do), I might look for one with an FM tuner, because I do like free legal music.

However, that doesn't mean it would be a good law. Not everyone wants an FM tuner. And it's ridiculous that corporations can just buy laws because they want to. This is a perfect example of how backwards our government is. When the government regulates something in order to benefit people (e.g. health care), we complain. But if it benefits corporations, then it's okay. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Zifre) Comments RE[4]: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437558 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437558 Thank you for posting about DAB, I hadn't even heard of it, let alone knew that some governments were planning to force FM off the air to make way for DAB.

I see that Wikipedia has a very useful page on DAB:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcast

After reading about it, I certainly hope that FM broadcasts continue. DAB comes with some heavy baggage: far more expensive to implement, worse reception, uses 3 times more electrical power than FM.

It sounds to me like DAB only benefits the government that wants to sell the FM spectrum to private industry. I don't know much about the UK, but in the USA, the much-ballyhooed switch to digital TV resulted in Verizon buying up all the bandwidth, which they are now sitting on. Their motive in buying it seems to have been to keep others from using it.

It's my understanding that a lot of that "freed bandwidth" (which was in the valuable 700 mHz range), had it remained in the public domain, could have given us a wireless Internet of amazing quality. But it didn't happen. Other countries could, of course, do things differently, but the influence of the USA on standards is such that I doubt it will happen.Edited 2010-08-20 01:09 UTC Fri, 20 Aug 2010 00:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ozonehole) Comments RIAA Tries to Maintain Control http://www.osnews.com/thread?437559 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437559 Radio is the traditional way that record labels provide exposure to new artists that they're trying to promote. If radio becomes irrelevant then the record labels won't have a way of forcing exposure to their new wares. With the reduced cost of recording songs and the power of the internet, it is now possible to become massively popular without requiring a record label to sign you, loan you recording money, and pay the radio stations to play your music. The record industry is quickly losing control and relevance and they are trying to legislate control of this industry back to themselves.

I am very interested in how this plays out. The U.S. doesn't even pretend to be anything other than a corporatocracy anymore, so I wouldn't be surprised if this legislation was introduced. This would fly in the face of all U.S. citizens since the only ones who really benefit are the RIAA (the NAB loses since they would now have to pay $100 million for broadcasting rights they already have). Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (organgtool) Comments Special interest groups made up of old moneymen ! http://www.osnews.com/thread?437560 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437560 The JR Ewings of America has much too much power still ... If anyone remembers that guy from the show Dallas and how he was :-) Oil business ... Record business .. dont matter .. And the Montgomery Burns'es.. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bugjacobs) Comments RE: Positives http://www.osnews.com/thread?437566 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437566 Many of those headset, iPhone included are probably capable of playing FM. Some said that the Nike chip for Apple+Nike stuff is able to play FM station, but there is not software/driver for it. I don't know if it is true, but it may be like bluetooth, just a software update away. Apple have FM on the Nano with some software to buy song from iTunes if you love it (the next time you connect the device). I really don't understand why the iPhone does not have this feature. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Elv13) Comments RE: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437569 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437569
I hear Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' every time I get in the car.


What's wrong with Katy? She is hot and your music is very appreciable. ;) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Michael Oliveira) Comments Quick way to defeat this bill http://www.osnews.com/thread?437572 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437572 Imply that this bill will soon require pacemakers will soon be required to have FM tracking chips implanted in them. The Voting Lobby Of Americans Who Believe Tracking Chips Are Legitimate soon after will have this thing shot down like a vice president's hunting partner. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Almafeta) Comments RE: Stupid, but http://www.osnews.com/thread?437574 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437574
... but I guess it costs next to nothing...

But even so, multiply that 'next to nothing' for the overall production volume of portable devices, and you'll get a pretty noticeable cost (which of course will be charged on consumers shoulders). Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bitwelder) Comments Same everywhere http://www.osnews.com/thread?437579 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437579
As it turns out, radio stations in the US do not have to pay performance rights to labels and artists due to a special exemption in copyright law; only songwriters are compensated.


As far as I know same law is in all western countries. It makes sense since radio plays are seen as advertisement of band, not songwriter.
Here is sources where band make money:
- Gigs
- Records
- Possible fan junk

And here is how songwriters and composers make money:
- Radio plays
- Records Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Karitku) Comments RE: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437581 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437581
On those rare occasions I don't have my phone with me, the FM radio in my car is tuned to the local top 40 station, and I shit you not... I hear Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' every time I get in the car. And I mean EVERY TIME...


Question...
Why is it that every time
I turn on the radio,
I hear the same five songs
fifteen times a day for three months?

Man...
FUNK DAT!
Get a new DJ!

(Sagat, Funk Dat) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (matako) Comments Tax dollars well spent http://www.osnews.com/thread?437583 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437583 Surely this must be the best possible use of the tax payer's dollars? To have the government meddle in things that is of absoulte zero importance to the society. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Malakim) Comments Letter of the law http://www.osnews.com/thread?437587 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437587 Would it meet the legal requirements to produce a device that had a FM chip with antenna on-board, but not hooked into the rest of the system? You'd have to spend a bit on engineering the board and case, and on the chip of course, but it wouldn't actively degrade performance or require actual code or firmware recreation. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Almafeta) Comments RE: next http://www.osnews.com/thread?437589 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437589 Hi,

Next, USA passes a law saying all mobile devices must have 15-inch or larger wide screen LCD (due to pressure from the American Pornography Association)...

- Brendan Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Brendan) Comments Disgruntled American http://www.osnews.com/thread?437593 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437593 So this is what our government has sunk to? 13+ Trillion dollars in debt, two wars, unemployment at 10% (16% if you don't fudge the numbers), health care costs spiraling out of control and all they worry about is adding a fading technology to our phones? The FM chips might be cheap but someone has to pay for the engineering to put it in the phone.

If you have an iphone if you hold it wrong will you lose FM reception?

I have a Sansa Clip+ MP3 player. It came with an FM radio built in. I have listened to the radio exactly 0 times even though I use the player daily. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bolomkxxviii) Comments RE: At least this is technically possible http://www.osnews.com/thread?437601 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437601
my big problem is all the radio I like to listen to is on the AM band ... its hard to find a device that has an AM receiver ... maybe I should start lobbying


I think the basic idea is just a short-term idea. How long will FM radio be present? I mean, all things tend to get digital, so FM radio, as well as AM radio, is about to die, just like analog TV per antenna has died. At least in Germany, analog TV has been 99% abandoned, so I'm just curious when analog FM radio will follow.

Maybe the initiators of the requirement see that pressing more money out of FM radio has to be done within the next years - just before it vanishes and you can't squeeze any money from it.

Oh, and if the station you want to listen to is on AM - it's a different frequency band than FM, which usually is around 100 MHz +/- 20 Mhz. By the way, maybe there will be hacks around that allow extending the allowed frequency range of the FM receiver to listen to police radio as well? And maybe with another little modification, ordinary smartphones can be turned into full-featured radio scanners with digital descrambler, in which case it maybe would be illegal, but... :-) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Doc Pain) Comments RE: next http://www.osnews.com/thread?437602 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437602 a law that forces everyone to listen to music radio at least 5 hours a day

Ouch, that'd be annoying! I haven't listened to radio since about 1998 and I don't even want to, it's just so much easier to throw a few hundred of my favorite songs on a USB-stick and play them from there in the car, or even better use Last.fm/Spotify client on my phone and just click "Next" if it starts playing a song I don't like. Sure, Spotify costs 9.99€ a month, but they've got a HUGE collection of music, I can create playlists of my own or select what genres I want to play on random, and I am allowed always to just press Next. No way regular FM radio can beat that. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WereCatf) Comments RE[2]: Stupid, but http://www.osnews.com/thread?437612 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437612 No, these days wifi, bluetooth, and FM are all provided by the same chip, so there is no extra cost really. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Timmmm) Comments I hate congress http://www.osnews.com/thread?437614 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437614 I'd like to get a marker and a copy of the complete set of laws that apply in the US + California (where I live.) It would probably fill a warehouse. Then I'd sit down with my marker and highlight at most 100 sentences, then throw the rest out. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bounty) Comments RE: Someone explain - only once every time? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437615 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437615 In a five minute carpool ride from work to home, I've easily hear the latest "hot" song more than three times. How to kill an interesting song dead; add it to radio. Why play lots of great music when you can overplay a few songs into repetitive oblivion. It's like english cooking; boil it 'till the flavor's gone and the structure is mush.

So, now that the radio broadcasters are driving away customers and/or not keeping up with technology, they want to mandate radio FM radio receivers in all devices. I don't recall the AM folks trying to mandate receivers for that band when FM eclipsed them. I haven't seen any historical record of the ice delivery industry trying to mandate ice consumption when refrigeration eclipsed the basic icebox.

In the US it's worse with the FCC granting duopoly over digital radio which effecively destroyed any possability of natural market competition. Even better that they said "ok, you two companies can have digital radio but you are barred from ever merging". There, that will insure competition right? A few short years ago 'uh, we both spent all the money you gave us to start this industry and we're both going to be bankrupt unless you let us merge' - "oh, well, alright then".. and now the US has a monopoly owned digital radio industry. Bravo!!

(I'm unsure if we're any different north of the border or if we're just as hosed by having only he US digial radio providers in our regions.) Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments luv my cc Witness http://www.osnews.com/thread?437616 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437616 I have been using my Crane Witness for 2 years now.
It has AM/FM and can record multiple programs like Tivo onto SD cards. Plenty of people listen to AM programs. Just FM is useless. If you gonna have FM
might as well add AM as well. Why not add HD radio
too.. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (nboxer) Comments RE[2]: Someone explain - only once every time? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437618 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437618
It's like english cooking; boil it 'till the flavor's gone and the structure is mush.


What? The 1950s called, they want their dumbassed stereotypes back! Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Chicken Blood) Comments RE[3]: Someone explain - does the analogy not fit? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437622 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437622 Sorry, does the analogy based on stereotyped boiled everything cooking, though out of date, not match up to the the affect of public radio boiling the life out of any initially interesting music by overplaying it? Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE[3]: Someone explain - only once every time? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437630 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437630
" It's like english cooking; boil it 'till the flavor's gone and the structure is mush.


What? The 1950s called, they want their dumbassed stereotypes back! "

Ummm...as a born Englishman, who lives in America (land of cuisine from the world over) I have to agree with that assessment of English cuisine. It made me laugh as it pretty much describes my parents and grandparents cooking (which I freaking hated). Yeah, as much as I would like to say this is 1950s stereotype, unfortunately visits to relatives says otherwise. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ssa2204) Comments RE[4]: Someone explain - only once every time? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437633 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437633 While in the USA, everything is fried into oblivion... Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jgagnon) Comments missing the point http://www.osnews.com/thread?437634 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437634 A few posters have got some kind of grip on what's happening. Most of the readers don't. Apple's business model is the envy of many competitors. I think these guys wants to do the same. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rebel787) Comments RE[2]: Someone explain - only once every time? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437635 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437635
In the US it's worse with the FCC granting duopoly over digital radio which effecively destroyed any possability of natural market competition. Even better that they said "ok, you two companies can have digital radio but you are barred from ever merging". There, that will insure competition right? A few short years ago 'uh, we both spent all the money you gave us to start this industry and we're both going to be bankrupt unless you let us merge' - "oh, well, alright then".. and now the US has a monopoly owned digital radio industry. Bravo!!


Eh, that's alright... with services like Slacker, Pandora, etc, satellite radio's days are numbered anyway. Just wait until they get this technology built into car stereos, so you don't have to stream them from your phone anymore. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments RE[5]: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437644 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437644 In France, I've heard that the horizon for shutting off FM is even sooner, some time starting in 2011. By mid-2012, there will be no traditional FM broadcasting. Yet, not a word about it in the media. The contrast is really sharp, compared to the loud fuss we've had about digital TV and the shutting off of analog TV transmissions. As if reality shows had turned everybody into brainless zombies caring only about their next fix and the volume of their dose.

IIRC, I had an FM radio chip in each of the 3 MP3 players I've had since 2002 or 2003. To be honest, I've probably never listened to a single show on the last one, and I've had it for two years now...

Useless as far as I'm concerned. I can't understand either what practical purpose a mandatory FM chip would serve. Television has become somewhat useless too. Reality shows are a no go for me. I watch the half-dozen TV series I'm addicted to mainly via torrents and streaming. My television set is for documentaries about animals, the national news at 20:00 when I'm in the mood, and for hearing English on CNN. That's about it. Sad world. Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vodoomoth) Comments The NAB should fire their "negotiators" http://www.osnews.com/thread?437649 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437649 If most of these embedded FM radios work as poorly as the one does on my phone, the NAB will be screwing themselves. I tried the FM on my HTC Incredible exactly once; I live somewhat far away from the transmission towers (in a major metro market), but it could not pick up _one channel_ clearly, and only two or three stations at all.

My car, and even my home stereo, do far better.

I guess we are not paying but a few cents for the FM, since as someone else commented, it's on-chip with the Bluetooth and wifi (at least in my phone). But if people listen to FM as much as I don't, the NAB will just be giving away $100 million.

Of course, the fact that I only listen to college/public radio on FM anyway means I'm not going to be one of the NAB's benefactors anyway.Edited 2010-08-20 23:36 UTC Fri, 20 Aug 2010 23:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (coreyography) Comments RE[4]: Someone explain - only once every time? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437655 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437655
"[q] It's like english cooking; boil it 'till the flavor's gone and the structure is mush.


What? The 1950s called, they want their dumbassed stereotypes back! "

Ummm...as a born Englishman, who lives in America (land of cuisine from the world over) I have to agree with that assessment of English cuisine. It made me laugh as it pretty much describes my parents and grandparents cooking (which I freaking hated). Yeah, as much as I would like to say this is 1950s stereotype, unfortunately visits to relatives says otherwise. [/q]

I'm a born Englishman who works in America too. I guess backgrounds vary. Who'd have thought? Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Chicken Blood) Comments RE[4]: Someone explain - does the analogy not fit? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437656 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437656
Sorry, does the analogy based on stereotyped boiled everything cooking, though out of date, not match up to the the affect of public radio boiling the life out of any initially interesting music by overplaying it?


I wouldn't know. I listen to national public radio and they don't do that at all. In fact I find it to have some of the most stimulating content out there. Mind you, they don't play much music.
Maybe you are referring to commercial radio. Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Chicken Blood) Comments House and Congress? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437659 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437659
in both the House and Congress


Should read,

in both the House and Senate
Sat, 21 Aug 2010 03:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jack_perry) Comments RE: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437660 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437660 Check out www.kuvo.org for the best jazz station in the world! Long live the "Oasis in the City!" Sat, 21 Aug 2010 03:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (StychoKiller) Comments RE[3]: Someone explain - digital spectrum http://www.osnews.com/thread?437685 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437685 Consider that the analog spectrum was auctioned out to many different carriers including segments set aside for non-profit and personal use. The digital spectrum was sold wholesale to two companies that later merged into one; no non-profit or private segments set aside. You might not be streaming slacker over expensive cell networks if competitive digital radio broadcasters where allowed spectrum. Thing's happened differently in europe so that may also be an indication of how digital radio could have evolved here with healthy competition allowed. Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE[5]: Someone explain - "*I* listen to public radio" http://www.osnews.com/thread?437687 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437687 I couldn't help but hear the Spongebob Squarepants character Squidworth's pretentious "*I* listen to public radio" in my head when reading your comment. You clearly understood that the overplaying of pop music was related to commercial radio else you wouldn't have made such a point of differentiating.. but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.. Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments Stupid http://www.osnews.com/thread?437688 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437688 Whatever happened to the "Free Market"?

As a side note I have an MP3 player with a FM tuner. The only time I have ever used it was when I checking out all the features right after I bought it.Edited 2010-08-21 14:24 UTC Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (abraxas) Comments pfft http://www.osnews.com/thread?437703 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437703 They're just mad because we're finally listening to what WE wanna hear, and not what Republican Clear Channel wants us to hear. I have FM available to me everywhere, and I still refuse to use it. Screw them. Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Wodenhelm) Comments Why only FM? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437718 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437718 Why would it have to be a strictly FM-tuner? Outside of sports, the classical music station, I listen to the AM band (specifically 760-WJR) much more than I do the FM band.

Though today most of this is moot. I listen to at least half of my radio listening is via live streams, as any station that has a sense of survival broadcasts online. The only way I'd use an actual radio feature if it reduced bandwidth costs, and if I'm charged by the byte... I'd probably upgrade my plan or start looking for a different carrier.

Shoot, soon it's going to be personalities broadcasting online, instead of stations. Dr. Laura could charge a quarter for the listener's phone call to her and probably make money. Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wingnut2292) Comments RE[4]: Someone explain this to me ... http://www.osnews.com/thread?437746 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437746 There is also Digital Radio Mondiale for use below 30mHz that is proposed to replace AM (LW, MW, SW) radio.

http://drm.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Radio_Mondiale Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (aaronb) Comments PDAs http://www.osnews.com/thread?437750 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437750 "cell phones, mp3 players, PDAs, everything. "
Does any company still produce PDAs? I've been seeing this term around again quite a bit lately, but does a market for these devices still exist? Surely they have been completely displaced by smartphones? Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Lion) Comments RE[6]: Someone explain - "*I* listen to public radio" http://www.osnews.com/thread?437751 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437751
I couldn't help but hear the Spongebob Squarepants character Squidworth's pretentious "*I* listen to public radio" in my head when reading your comment.


OK, I guess that explains a lot.
Sorry that you find listening to public radio pretentious. Wait, no I'm not.

You clearly understood that the overplaying of pop music was related to commercial radio else you wouldn't have made such a point of differentiating.. but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night..


Ooh, see what you did there? WANK.Edited 2010-08-22 20:03 UTC Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Chicken Blood) Comments RE[7]: Someone explain - public radio http://www.osnews.com/thread?437754 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437754 I don't find listening to public radio pretentious at all but I do find your need to mention it when you clearly understood the reference regarding commercial radio highly pretentious.

I'm willing to listen though. Why was my comment about English cuisine so offensive to you as to justify this many replies to what was a passing humerous use? You may very well have a reason for taking such offense and I'm willing to listen. Why do you take a generalized reference to a known joke about English cuisine so personally? Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE[8]: Someone explain - public radio http://www.osnews.com/thread?437756 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437756
I don't find listening to public radio pretentious at all but I do find your need to mention it when you clearly understood the reference regarding commercial radio highly pretentious.


I was trying to point out that all FM radio isn't bad just because of the annoying commercial stations, just as all English food isn't bad just because some of us had parents who were shitty cooks. I don't see any pretension there, but I guess i'm not looking hard enough…

I'm willing to listen though. Why was my comment about English cuisine so offensive to you as to justify this many replies to what was a passing humerous use? You may very well have a reason for taking such offense and I'm willing to listen. Why do you take a generalized reference to a known joke about English cuisine so personally?


I guess I've heard it just too many times from people who have never even been to England or had "a bad meal in London" because they were too clueless to do their research. Since you don't qualify on either of these counts I'll let it slide.

I happen to live on the West Coast of the US, so I am well aware of the diverse and interesting foods that are available here. Head further inland though and I don't think the US has much to offer over UK cuisine. It might not be boiled to death, but it's fried to death and super-unhealthy. Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Chicken Blood) Comments RE: RIAA Tries to Maintain Control http://www.osnews.com/thread?437782 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437782 The record industry is quickly losing control and relevance and they are trying to legislate control of this industry back to themselves.

It seems like it, but it is a pipe dream. The RIAA and the NAB could buy legislation to mandate an FM chip in anything that has an electrical circuit in it, it wouldn't help them stay relevant.

The problem is not access to FM radio. Access to FM technology is ample and cheap. If FM radio is waning in the US (don't know, because I'm from the old continent), it is most likely because FM radio is not transmitting what people want to hear.

Some people will earn a few bucks on extra FM chips. It won't revive a dying FM culture if the broadcasters don't alter their act. This is legislation which will just add some more unused circuitery to mobile PCB's.

It is yet another example why the old entertainment institutions are doomed to vanish. Instead of transforming into agile, customer oriented, on demand content providers, they just try to keep their old dying business model alive by trying to legislate everybody back to the 1980's. Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (r_a_trip) Comments RE[9]: Someone explain - public radio http://www.osnews.com/thread?437789 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437789 "
I was trying to point out that all FM radio isn't bad just because of the annoying commercial stations, just as all English food isn't bad just because some of us had parents who were shitty cooks. I don't see any pretension there, but I guess I'm not looking hard enough…
"

If that's what you intended to say then you should have said it rather than assuming that everyone was going to read your intonation through text. You'd have saved yourself a lot of grief right from the beginning. It's not even about "not looking hard enough", simply the way your text came across regardless of how you meant it.

Similarly, if we'd been speaking in person, you'd have realized that the passing joke was meant to add to the criticism of radio overplay form 90% of broadcasters rather criticism English cooking as a definitive conclusion.

Such is the case with text based communications. Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments RE[10]: Someone explain - public radio http://www.osnews.com/thread?437827 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437827
If that's what you intended to say then you should have said it rather than assuming that everyone was going to read your intonation through text. You'd have saved yourself a lot of grief right from the beginning. It's not even about "not looking hard enough", simply the way your text came across regardless of how you meant it.


Right, because your interpretation is the only interpretation possible. If you didn't get it, than no-one would get it. Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:22:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Chicken Blood) Comments RE: Dead On http://www.osnews.com/thread?437907 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437907 Why mandate HD Radio? There's nothing HD about it. Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (cerbie) Comments RE[11]: Someone explain - still a problem? http://www.osnews.com/thread?437985 http://www.osnews.com/thread?437985 I was simply explaining where the failure of communication came in. I didn't, at any time, state that how I read your text was how everyone read your text. I thought we where done with this but if finding common ground and moving on is not acceptable, all I can suggest now is this; Rent a sense of humor for a day. See if you like it enough to get one of your own.

Heck, if it makes you feel better. Make a stereotypical joke about Canadian and I'll pretend to be offended and not see the humor in it.

I really can't put any more time into a one line joke that has been blown this far out of proportion. Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jabbotts) Comments