View Single Post
  #24   Report Post  
Old August 27th 03, 03:54 AM
Cooperstown.Net
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Rich Wood" wrote in message

Not long from now, probably within our lifetimes, the generation after
her won't know what FM or Satellite Radio is. When I was her age I had
never seen a 78 or an Edison cylinder until my grandfather showed me
his collection of them.


I'd say the term "Satellite Radio" will outlast the term "FM". Listeners
will always need to consider whether the programming they seek requires a
special outdoor antenna, oriented to the sky. They'll want to be aware of which
bands offer local weather and commercials, and which offer niche music. But
they won't care to know which component of a terrestrial signal was modulated to
represent the ones and zeros of digital data. Thus they're likely to say "local
radio" and "satellite radio," just as they refer to cable, satellite and local,
or "regular" TV.

As you note, content is what matters, and the term "satellite radio" conveys
crucial information about what content to expect and how to set about receiving
it. Terms like FM or the truly archaic UHF and VHF do not.

BTW, are you predicting the obsolescence of the terms or the technologies?
78's and Edisons are long out of production, a fate I don't hear you predicting
for satellite or FM radio.

Jerome