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[ NNSquad ] Re: NAB is serious about mandating FM radios in every cell phone


Lauren Weinstein wrote:
NAB is serious about mandating FM radios in every cell phone

http://bit.ly/aSo8d2 (NAB)

It's all very convincing -- except for one thing: if consumers wanted it that much, it would already be there. A quick check of Wikipedia shows a total of 17 manufacturers, of whom 6 have agreed to use the micro-USB connector for charging.


With that many manufacturers, it is inevitable that any feature desired by a substantial number of consumers will be available. Yet I don't see any offered on Amazon or CNet. That strongly suggests to me that people don't want it -- at least, not enough to pay however much the FM radio chip adds to the price.

One can, perhaps, justify requiring a feature when it's safety-related, like airbags in a car. But when it's just a convenience, or is *at best* arguably safety-related (like the weather alerts in the
NAB puff piece), let the market decide.


[ They're playing this very cleverly by emphasizing the "public safety" aspects. These do exist -- in disaster
situations (floods, earthquakes, etc.) cell nets tend to fail
quickly. They are relatively fragile especially in terms of
microcell backup power facilities. Your cell phone quickly
turns into a brick in terms of communication when the nets go
down. Too bad that inter-phone direct local communications
aren't possible with these phones. But that would allow
bypassing the net, and since billable events wouldn't be
created, it's hardly attractive to the powers that be.


     My suspicion is that what the broadcasters and NAB are even more
     interested in is the possibility (for example) of stations using
     real-time tagging on cell phones to create a song track sales
     ecosystem (they even mention tagging themselves).  To them,
     anything that can induce people to listen to music on radio
     rather than streaming the audio (since the latter can -- but
     doesn't necessarily -- cut conventional broadcasters out of the
     loop) is a potential revenue enhancer.  By getting an FM
     requirement written into law as a technical mandate they
     accomplish this without any cost to themselves (other than their
     ongoing lobbying outlays).

            -- Lauren Weinstein
               NNSquad Moderator ]