"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
By Thomas Crampton
International Herald Tribune
18 June 2005
Paris

The days of stringing a wire across the room to hear a shortwave radio
broadcast from the other side of world ended long ago.

A reporter should know his subject matter better. Is everyone else at the
International Herald Tribune equally incompetent?

[snip]


"It is still too early to measure results, but we are incredibly excited
about what we have on offer," said Chris Kimber, head of interactive radio
at the BBC. "Podcasting is fundamentally different from an Internet
stream,
since listeners can carry the program with them and listen when they are
ready."

Yes, listen when they're ready! This is such a brand new concept!! Not at
all like recording a program on a cassette and listening to it on a portable
player.

All hail the fundamentally different Digital Age!!!


Podcasting itself may not be the final form of radio delivery, but it is a
step toward the goal of the BBC. "We are trying to ensure that radio
survives in the digital age," Kimber said.

Indeed. Imagine if RF itself disappeared in the upcoming Fundamentally
Different Digital Age. What would we radio hobbyists do? Stop stringing
wire, I suppose. Thankfully, the BBC is on the case. If they can't ensure
radio survives in the Digital Age, no one can.


"We don't want to be the only
media that is not digital."

Ah, yesterday's analog media. Inexplicably, there's never been so many
bookstores around here as there is now. Border's, Barnes & Noble,
Waldenbooks and others. We'll pity the fools on the tragic day they're all
tumbling into the Digital Divide.



[snip]


Denmark's taxpayer-supported national broadcaster, Denmark Radio, is also
preparing for radio's digital future. "Within the next week or so, we will
go live with podcasts for about 50 programs, but that is just the
beginning," said Ole Molgaard, head of development for Denmark Radio.
"Radio
is dead in its current form, but we see a great future for the medium."

Hmmm. Why doesn't Denmark offer other broadcasters more of a chance to get
on the air? If they did, then radio in Denmark might not seem quite so
dead, at least in it's current form. Although I'm sure Denmark radio will
be quite lively after Digital makes Everything Better.


The broadcaster, which has only four FM channels, offers 25 channels on
the
Internet. "We want to offer people radio with a choice about where, when
and
how they listen," Molgaard said.

Oh, now I get it. Denmark's government radio is dead because they have too
much programming available for four channels. Makes sense.

And I'll bet Denmark now needs an even larger cadre of taxpayer-supported
payrollers to herald the Exciting, Fundamentally Different Digital Age.

Frank Dresser