lsmyer:

On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:19:47 -0500, lsmyer wrote:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0202/p18s03-hfes.html
The last paragraph exactly parallels my own views about why internet
radio will never replace real radio in my heart.

Thanks! that was an interesting and nostalgic read.
Times have definitely changed. It is a personal
choice as to whether one views the changes as "good"
or "bad", but those of us who lived during the 50s
and 60s will certainly relate to the author's thoughts.
Back then, there was still a sort of "reverence" for
the world as being large and often a mysterious place.
With advances in technology and communications, the
world has become a smaller place, and I doubt that,
for the current generation, hearing a radio broadcast
such as the author's first experience would have the
same context that it did for us. We were really at
the tail end of the radio era, with TV rapidly replacing
radio as the primary means of news and entertainment
for much of the US (and probably British) population.

Whenever I watch an old movie from, say, the 30s or 40s,
there seems to be a sense of wonder about "distant" lands,
that is no longer evident today. People can pretty much
travel most anywhere in a relatively short time, and
that changes the context of experiences such as hearing
a broadcast from South Africa. It seems that the various
broadcasters have web sites today. Back in the early 60s,
when we would send for a QSL card from a station, there
would be a period of even weeks before getting the response,
wiht us waiting and checking the mail every day for the
card to arrive. That context is gone when you can open
a browser and simply type in the URL for the station's
web site or send them an email instantaneously.

So, my thought on this is that I am glad to have lived
in that period, and wouldn't give it up. What has changed
is the context in which hearing distant broadcasts was
experienced. Realizing that my experiences in that period
of the late 50s and early 60s also was being experienced
by a much older generation who was seeing the world as
they knew it, changing, I must also realize that this is
a cycle that just goes with the passing of time. From
that perspective, I can remember the things that caught
my attention in my younger days, while allowing those
experiencing their younger days today, to do so without
my pining for the "old days" in the context of today
being somehow lacking by comparison.

Tony