"HD radio has just left its experimental status under two months ago"
But its been "out of experimental" and on the air for, what, a year ... except at night on AM? There have been plenty of stations in "HD", not putting spots on the HD2 streams, but utilizing the technology for a lot longer than two months.
"and you are saying it's dead?"
A slow death ... but a death, imho.
"What do you base this on and don't you think that declaring this technology dead 2 months after it's been OKed by the commission and as of yet not in effect,"
50 million people in the country, alone, listen to clean sounding (if done correctly) Internet radio ...even AM stations sound better than FM stations across the country and they didn't have to spent squillions on iBOC licensing or equipment to do so. Just because it was OKed as the "defacto" standard because after all this, somebody had too...doesn't make it the best or right choice, especially for small market broadcasters who will get destroyed when they get eaten up by the digital noise and improper or ineffective set-ups now being experienced...especially on AM.
"shows a bit of a short attention span and wishful thinking?"
In your opinion ... and I respect that. But I disagree, also respecfully.
"Internet radio which isn't local and in many cases far from professional, isn't portable."
Tell that to the thousands of broadcasters (terrestrial) coast-to-coast who DO stream and have been doing so for a long time to get their often pitiful signals at last into office buildings and homes, apartments and in wi-fi hot spots they couldn't expect to have just three or four years ago.
Another major point ... portable wi-fi enhanced units for Internet radio are much wanted NOW by many of the 50-MILLION people who listen to their local and far-away radio stations and don't want to be leashed to their computers forever, but love the technology and the "sound."
Professional webcasting by many or not is the treasure of the Internet. You either like it or you turn it off. It does, however, level the playing field for all broadcasters. A 50kw giant is no better than a 0-milliwatt webcaster on the Internet. There are many many stations that sound a heck of a lot better than commercial terrestrial stations format and programming wise...at no cost. Plus...you get to use the Internet for jus the charge you pay each month.
"There are no car Internet units."
But for the 22 minutes to 2 hours people spend in the car, terrestrial radio isn't what's happening either. Satellite radio and iPods take a lot of that time, and so do CDs & even tapes. And some DO listen to the 'net in cars in heavy wi-fi areas. It's the "inside" that works for the Internet.
"The infrastucture isn't built and say you want to drive from Chicago to St Louis as an example, how do you listen to Internet radio without paying the equivelant of a years salery using a cell phone.
Right now, you don't...anymore than you do for an HD equipped radio that loses stations as soon as they are out of range and, especially, in unprotected countour areas.
"HD radio is here. the other technologiutes are not."
And HD radio has lots of problem. It is incredibly expensive to implement...and not cheap to get consumers to buy when FM doesn't sound, to the average person, any better and AM is not much better. The other technologies ARE hear. I have a great ROKU Labs radio that I swear by and am, right now, listening to a crystal clear AM in Philadelphia and I live in California. And it's a portable, Bose Wave Radio sound with over 3000 stations on it right now...and more everyday. I don't have to go anywhere to hear the variety of stations.
I listen on the patio with no wires, no computer, nothing. I listen in the garage and I put a Belkin FM xmtr on the headphone out and listen in both the front and back yard through a regular FM Walkman...
"By the way, the average person could care less about listening to that streamer from the south Pacific playing local tunes."
You're right. But that's not what Internet radio does. When I listen to a commercial station in Hawaii or Fiji, I listen to Hawaiian music, or South Seas island music. If I want to hear Bermuda or the Bahamas, or London or whatever ... I get to hear "their" music and what radio sounds like in those lands. I'm a fan, in fact, of Australian music and rado there. Can't do that on car radio or most other radios...and I have several.
"They want local radio."
Not neccesarily. There are some 10,000 webcasters who profess that terrestrial radio doesn't program to the masses anymore and the corporate dominance of cookie cutter radio makes AM & FM rado boring and repeititous. That's why the Internet is a much more growing threat. I believe that.
"The advantage of the internet is that I could take my local stations with me when I travel but as I said, the infrastucture is not in place. Who's gonna pay for it? "
Well, in Los Angeles, I can tell you several companies and businesses, in fact, entire industries, are getting that city "max-fied" in the next two years. I hear that in London, they did that this week. Who pays for it? Our taxes will pay for it because it's a mobile society, now. People use cell phones and will use wireless the same way in the months and years to come. And if I'm in a hotel, chances are I can get free wireless to hear my local station(s) anywhere in the world...in crystal clear quality, tuned in just like a regular radio.
I have a portable Internet radio that works real well...a Torian Wireless inFusion unit that fits in my shirt pocket, and I'm surprised at how many wi-fi hot spots I'm in each day and I'm in a small town, comparitively speaking. The radio is from Australia and is available here, at several retailers and online.
Again, the want and desire are there for Internet appliances. For HD, the average consumer, even many retailers, no nothing about it...
Why be limited by a city of license when the "people's Internet" is worldwide? Now!
Thanks for your good post. I appreciate the chance to respond. -oaktree-
