It was totally ill-conceived to introduce products FIRST to the expensive table radio market, because people that buy those are not in the highly profitable demographic stations want to reach. The only people who can afford to plunk down $200 or $300 for a table radio are either older people who are stinkin' rich and don't care what the price is, or people so stupid they pay $200 for something with $10 of electronics inside.
You aren't by chance channeling B.S.?
I don't know how else to explain such a lack of historical perspective.
Every technical innovation and new product has started out high priced and aimed de-facto at the upper end of the market. Every-single-one.
I'am not going to enumerate them all but really, you make a very weak argument here.
In fact, the cost of a current hd radio against today's per-capita income is miniscule compared to what Tv, especially color, Hi-fi etc cost when they were introduced.
I paid $100 for the Acurian w/rebate in late November 2006.
The "failure" in marketing the first generation of consumer hd lays in not providing the kinds of functionality that people now seek in a radio ie:clock timer.
It's also foolish to assume failure just because these first generation sets have not been a "revolution", reality is that nothing conventional aural transmission does is going to blow-up in this this swamped tech landscape.
The way they needed to do it was massively roll out radios that cost the same as current models, but with the decode circuitry inside. Maybe get a little regulatory help from the FCC to require the decode circuitry just like they mandated that TVs had teletext for the deaf. Or that tuners in TVs and other devices have to be digital. When the market became saturated with radios, then launch exciting new formats - not variations on the same formats - all over the dial.
Basic agreement here except on cost, no way that will be possible until cheaper, lower power chips become available. You are putting a fairly powerful computer into the radio, be realistic.
All of that assumes the product would work in the first place, which it doesn't on AM. At least not very well in the daytime and not at all at night.
Maybe in some areas/cases but here in town, all the stations running iboc at night (6) decode same as daytime, I have posted airchecks attesting to this recently.
If there were ever a recipe for failure, iBiquity found it without even trying hard. This will be a case study in a failed product and failed marketing campaign for generations to come. It joins the likes of the Edsel, PC Junior, Microsoft "Bob", New Coke, and Cue Cats as the biggest flops in history. It didn't have to be that way. The FM product would have been compelling enough, properly managed and marketed.
That is just hot air. Way too soon to call failure, especially in today's marketplace.
As it is, it will go down in flames because the only people who can hear it are those lured into buying ridiculously expensive table radios - most of which get returned because the signal isn't robust.
I think history covers the "expense" part of that statement. Would you care to provide some sort of proof as to the return rate?
Lino
