His tech excellency Leo Laporte just posted a twitter message:
Getting ready to speak to radio executives at the Radio Ink conference. Q: Is radio dead? Discuss!
Heh… I honestly don’t remember the last time that I listened to the radio.
The radio just isn’t useful for my life. One, I don’t own a car. I miss out on that opportunity to listen the radio. Even if I did have a car, I’d probably get a car adapter for my iPhone.
When I’m at work or a party and we need music, no one says “Hey turn on the radio.” Someone will get speakers and hook them up to an iPod.
I don’t listen to talk or news radio. 95% of the time it’s just blather or useless soundbytes.
There is too much content that I can listen to when I want and where I want. Why would I force myself to have to listen to the radio just to hear a specific show?
Do you listen to the radio? Is it dead or dying?
Only when I am in the car. Although in the morning I listen to Elliot in the Morning on DC101. But even that is streamed online. I think talk radio will be around for a while.
NPR, and sometimes CSPAN radio. I also listen to the podcasts of “On The Media” and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”, which are at least produced primarily for radio.
Let me leave a comment in favor of radio. Of course, I may be a dinosaur tech-wise. I welcome podcasts and pandora, both of which I use as well. However, when I wake up in the morning, I listen to NPR on my clock radio. I also listen while I drive, and I listen to the classical music station while I work.
Most of technology is designed to give us more control over what we consume, and to give businesses a better idea of what we want so they can market to a society with more choices. This seems good to me.
However, there is a sense of discovery on the radio, particularly with NPR, that is lacking in other mediums. The truth is, I often do not know what I want, and the stream of radio, unfiltered by my input, can be refreshing in an age of targeted marketing.
I sometimes listen to the radio when I’m in my car, but not really anywhere else.
http://peterc.org/2008/45-have-you-ever-heard-of-jason-calacanis-or-leo-laporte.html