And KSUR's next move: All Classical

[michael hagerty]

There are plenty of sound sleepers for whom a smartphone isn't loud enough to wake them up, and many others who simply prefer a single-function device that's always there, always works, and never needs recharging or updating.

Poll this year shows 83% of Americans use their cell phone as an alarm. An earlier Pew Research study shows cell phones passed alarm clocks and clock radios as the most popular alarm source in the morning seven years ago.

https://www.reviews.org/mobile/cell-phone-addiction/

 

[kevtronics]

Then a shocking amount of Americans don't mind Apple or Google having the ability to listen to everything that's going on in their bedroom.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Then a shocking amount of Americans don't mind Apple or Google having the ability to listen to everything that's going on in their bedroom.

I nominate you for Most Insightful Post of the Year.

Still, a shocking amount of readers will wonder what it is you're actually talking about and then once informed, will belittle the concept (to their ultimate detriment that they will not appreciate until it is way too late).

 

[michael hagerty]

Then a shocking amount of Americans don't mind Apple or Google having the ability to listen to everything that's going on in their bedroom.

The number doesn’t surprise me at all. Americans have consistently chosen convenience over privacy, from loyalty programs at the grocery store to smart devices and more than a few in between.

A lot of us of a certain age had both a telephone and a clock radio on the nightstand. The smartphone replaces both.

Yeah, you need to charge it. Assuming there’s some charge before the lights go out, the smartphone works better than the clock radio in a power outage (the alarm will go off and it won’t blink “12:00”). The cord is where the clock radio cord was. It charges overnight when I sleep and rarely (in my case) needs to be topped off otherwise.

 

[Kent]

There are plenty of sound sleepers for whom a smartphone isn't loud enough to wake them up, and many others who simply prefer a single-function device that's always there, always works, and never needs recharging or updating.

Since I moved into my current house almost six years ago, I have not plugged in, let alone turned on, a single radio. All of my listening in the house is via either smartphone, tablet, Roku, or Amazon Echo. I also set the alarm on my Amazon Echo to wake me up at the same time each workday morning. I have a backup on my Apple Watch just-in-case my internet or power goes out, but that's only been a problem once. My neighborhood's power lines are underground. So, unless something happens to a feeder line, at the power station, at a transformer, or someone crashes into the box outside my house, I have little to worry about. I guess I could also forget to pay my bill, but they usually give you plenty of notice before they disconnect for nonpayment!

At my previous house, I usually woke up to the alarm clock, but, even in the time I've lived at my current address, I've noticed smartphone apps have improved dramatically as alarms. Even five years ago, they could be unreliable on your iPhone. In fact, as recently as three years ago, I had iPhone apps with unreliable alarms. iHeartRadio seems to have gotten rid of its alarm capability, though it still offers a sleep timer. Of course, with iHeart stations being available on TuneIn now, I can just use TuneIn if I want to wake up to an iHeart station when traveling. TuneIn is reliable and has its own buzzer as a back up if your internet goes out. Audacy seems to work well now, too, though, I've noticed it can have problems on hotel WiFi. That's probably more a function of the hotel WiFi than it is of Audacy, but the backup alarm has never seemed to work quite right for me.

 

[Marcos_C]

A lot of us of a certain age had both a telephone and a clock radio on the nightstand. The smartphone replaces both.

Yeah, you need to charge it. Assuming there’s some charge before the lights go out, the smartphone works better than the clock radio in a power outage (the alarm will go off and it won’t blink “12:00”).

But what if the power outage lasts more than one day, leaving you with no way to charge the smartphone? That's where a battery-powered travel alarm clock would come in handy.

 

[davideduardo]

But what if the power outage lasts more than one day, leaving you with no way to charge the smartphone? That's where a battery-powered travel alarm clock would come in handy.

We appoint you our agent to convince Millennials and anyone under 40 to buy a battery operated radio to keep for emergencies along with plenty of fresh batteries.

Most people who don't use AM and many who don't use a separate, one-purpose only, radio just don't understand that in an emergency they will not have any way of staying informed.

It's not just home radios. It is also the fragile nature of the cellular system where many if not most cells have limited time battery backup but no generator and, even if they do, limited fuel. The New Orleans hurricane showed that for over a week, only WWL provided continuing service to much of the city. Today, 16 years later, far fewer people there would have AM radios and the batteries to power them.

We used to be able to get little TVs that ran on disposable batteries and were great in emergencies. Today, all the portables are rechargeable battery powered and will only last a few hours. Most people just do not think of that.

 

[michael hagerty]

But what if the power outage lasts more than one day, leaving you with no way to charge the smartphone? That's where a battery-powered travel alarm clock would come in handy.

If the power goes out because of something severe like a natural disaster, I probably don’t need an alarm clock to get up at a specific time.

If it’s not that severe and I can move around for shopping, work, etc, I can charge it in the car.

I also do have an external battery that I bought for camping trips. Thanks for reminding me to recharge that.