Radio Star rolls on

In this article it talks about how podcasting on the iPod will hurt internet radio because of “its portability, its intimacy and its accessibility.”

I don’t think that the iPod will necessarily kill anything off. In this case, it might be more of an accessory than anything else because the desire to listen to popular music will always be there and you will always have to pay 99 cents on iTunes for that . While listening to internet radio, or regular radio for that matter, may not let you choose the song that you want to listen to at that instant, it’s FREE.

People will always revert back to something that’s similar to what they have, like the iPod, when they don’t have to pay money for it. As long as radio can keep convincing advertisers that it has listenership, they will always be around.

The iPod Has Nothing To Do With The Radio Star

This article makes the incorrect assumption that the iPod was the first ground breaking device in the portable media player (PMP) realm. The Creative Nomad predates the iPod by several years, but the Nomad just didn’t happen to have the same unwarranted “hip” appeal that Apple brings to underwhelming products. Either way, as the article contends the podcast phenomenon is not strictly tied to iPods, even though the highly contentious name (even Apple doesn’t like it) suggests it’s an exclusive feature of the iPod. In fact, Apple has gone out of it’s way to try and prevent others from using the term Podcast with some legal enthusiasm much to the displeasure of it’s loyal supporters. Laughably enough, Apple has even gone so far as to claim to ownership of the copyright on the term “pod”. As others have echoed in regard to this same article, I honestly don’t see the appeal of listening to talk radio even if it happens to be on demand. If I wanted to listen to people talk I’d just turn on the regular radio which has plenty of mindless banter already. Simply providing me with a new way of listening to a plethora of equally uninteresting podcasts does not seem all that revolutionary to me. Podcasts just seem like a new trend for anyone geek enough to find them interesting or useful.

Podcasts Are Not My Favorite

 

The article Did iPod Kill the Radio Star was very interesting in that it gave the background on how Podcasts were first devised and how, since then, they’ve had a grip on the culture of technology. I was unaware to the extent that Podcasts have invaded our culture. Especially in regards to shows like “The Daily Download” that was referenced in “Grassroots Radio”. Gross. 

I guess the problem with this article lies with my complete hatred of Podcasts. I’ve really never understood why people would want to listen to recorded radio? I would much rather turn my radio on in the car and let it be. I don’t want some commentator that I’ve never listened to before try and play the perfect playlist. I, for one, love how random the radio is in that it plays new music without a hassle. There’s not the hassle of downloading the Podcast (waiting for it) then transferring it to your iPod (waiting for it) then plugging it into my car, finding the Podcast and then listening to it during the two second ride to Starbucks.

Not for me. 

In a media class I took, it was suggested that we listen to the New York Times’ “On The Media”. I liked the commentary on the media idea, I didn’t like the boring voice of the mid-50 year old man and his female companion that made no effort to entertain me.

Again, no thanks. 

Did iPod kill the radio star? Definitely not. I’ll be the first to say that I usually hear new songs that I like first on the radio…and then they migrate to my iPod at a later date.

So, the answer? Nope.