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The RIAA's At It Again
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Having just negotiated a deal whereby they'll be getting more money from radio broadcasts, they now want the government to force cellphone makers to include FM tuners in all mobile phones.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. 
Penny Arcade has a few words on that subject.
--Sam "We are a justice sandwich, no toppings necessary!" 
*FACEPALM TO INFINITY*
I agree with the commenter that called this the "bleat of a dying industry". 
I've got an FM tuner in my voice recorder. (Why, yes, it can record the FM signal... No, I've only used it to record live events, which I wouldn't be able to get on CD or through iTunes.) Maybe the RIAA hasn't thought this through.
-- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012 
Oh that, welcome to a few months ago. Anyway ain't the current batch of devices with built-in FM radios in things like MP3 players & mobiles are just like that due to the manufacture chose to use some hardware with it hardwired in and they decided to declare that the FM radio's a feature, in a device that was lacking some.
Oh, there's nothing wrong with a manufacturer deciding to add FM radio as a feature to their cellphone(s). I just have a problem with the RIAA demanding that it be a government-mandated feature on all cellphones just so they can line their pockets with a little more cash.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
True that, reality should and will pop-up a bite 'em over this as most of the world uses a slightly different FM radio setup to the US and some places are in the process of phasing out FM (analogue) for digital.
It's not that I *disapprove* of slings and arrows against the RIAA, but it doesn't sound like this was actually *their* idea...
Meanwhile, I remain tetchy about the lack of AM radio receivers in things. -Morgan.
Well the reason why there's no AM receiver in certain radio devices is....it's obsolete tech, more prone to interference, incompatible with the hardware, no-one makes an all in one chip for AM anymore. Pick one or more of those previous statements and your answer may be revealed. Still that is something that's been puzzling me too, after all an AM radio's one of the most simple electronic circuits in existence: an antenna, induction coil, diode, tuning cap, audio earpiece & a ground to earth point.
Meh if AM's obsolete then why does new radio I installed in me car still have it & LW band reception too? --Rod.H 
AM is obsolete but you can't beat it for emergency situations, for precisely the reason you describe. In a pinch, anybody with Boy Scout-level electronics knowledge can whip together an emergency radio -- both transmitter and receiver.
It's one of the few things I approve of that the US gov't has done, in that they continue to use dirt-simple, reliable technology for critical things instead of going with the New Shiny every time it shows up. AM isn't pretty and is certainly outdated, but we know how it works inside and out. And not to be overly dramatic about it, but, when the zombie apocalypse/nuclear winter/terrorist invasion/alien menace arrives, we're going to be grateful we still have it. As for your radio in your car: if your area is anything like mine, then automated traffic warnings, weather notifications, Amber Alerts, and a whole host of other useful info for the traveler on the road is broadcast locally by AM repeaters (AM530 in my area, yours may be different). In addition, a lot of areas -- small towns, for example -- have their own radio station broadcasting on AM, because it's cheaper and they don't have to fight over frequencies like FM bands do. --sofaspud --"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs 
I vote with my feet on this one... and gravitate towards mobile devices with radio receivers. I was rather annoyed to find that my iPod touch didn't come with one. It's actually a very useful thing to have... especially if there's any sort of disaster.
A few government stations broadcast on longwave/shortwave... I think for just such a reason, and because they propagate better than FM signals. I know there was a big fuss when RTE switched off their AM transmitters precisely because a lot of AM listener's were in places where FM signals couldn't reach. I can get I think BBC Radio 5 being broadcast in from Wales on Medium Wave, a French Station quite clearly at 945kHz, BBC Radio 1 at 1053kHz, and much clearer at 1089kHz. A faint hint of something that sounds French at 1116kHz, another French station at 1206kHz, something Islamic at 1296kHz, another French station at 1377kHz. On Long Wave, At 198kHz BBC Radio4, something that sounds llike a chipmunk speaking at 245kHz, RTE Radio 1 at 252kHz, Actually quite fascinating to take a trawl. Most of these are coming from a couple of hundred miles away... and though distorted and noisy, are perfectly audible and understandable ________________________________ --m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig? |
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