Ink Tank

Validation, Apple Style

A Message from Radio Ink's Eric Rhoads

The big news out of the 9-9-09 Apple announcements seems to be the FM radio on the iPod nano. People always expect great things from Apple, but today no one knew what to expect. Though some other items were revealed, the radio seems to be catching the most attention.

Oh, it's not just any radio. It’s a radio with a DVR. You can pause it, rewind it, and listen to what you missed. Though the concept isn’t new (you can buy special DVD radios), it’s never really hit the mainstream before. How cool.

Though this is a baby step. A radio on an Apple product (and yes, leave it to Apple to innovate by adding some DVR functions) is a toe in the water. Recent research indicated that a radio is the #1 wanted accessory for the iPod, iPhone, etc., and it’s a top seller. I have a little add-on radio that plugs into my iPhone and is a pain -- just something more to carry. This places a radio in potentially millions of hands, and if Apple sees it drive success, you can bet this radio will become a part of every iPhone and iPod. Or let's hope so.

We as an industry have been saying that a radio on an iPod is a great idea. Nearly all MP3 players have FM tuners, and Microsoft has put HD Radio on its upcoming Zune HD, due September 15. Maybe that got Apple’s attention because when I asked Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak about an iPhone with a radio at our Convergence conference, he said, “Fat chance.”

Of course, the effort led by Jeff Smulyan at Emmis (hear a podcast interview here) to put an FM radio on every phone (it's already built in to all Nokia phones but not activated in U.S. models) for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) makes a lot of sense because it solves a problem for the cell phone industry, which has to develop an alert system, which of course would be hard to use when the cell towers fail. A radio is a natural alternative that can trigger a message on the phone to tune in.

Of course, many will say, “Yeah, but you can listen to the radio with streaming anyway. Who needs a radio anymore?” True. But meetings with cell phone providers are fraught with issues about how to provide enough bandwidth if everyone decides to listen at once (as they would in a national emergency). They simply cannot carry the load.

It’s funny. My wife can tell me something repeatedly for years, but sometimes it takes a third party telling me the same thing to get my attention. Maybe radio people asking Apple to put a radio in the iPod did not get their attention. Maybe Microsoft's Zune HD got their attention. In any case, it's important validation because Apple recognizing radio by putting it in their product is simply great for radio.

Eric Rhoads

RADIO INK

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