THE FUTURE OF RADIO

Grant Goddard
radio specialist
www.grantgoddard.co.uk

24 October 2007

Grant Goddard

The Negroponte Switch

radio specialist

Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT Media Lab:

George Gilder and I have shared the podium frequently, and I have learned a lot from him. One of our first encounters occurred about 10 years ago [1987] at an executive retreat organized by Northern Telecom (now called Nortel). At this meeting, I showed a slide that depicted wired and wireless information trading places. This idea had been prompted, in part, by some early HDTV discussions, during which I and others questioned whether broadcast TV should get any spectrum at all, since stationary TV sets could be better served by wires (read: fiber). In contrast, the theory continued, anything that moves needs to be wireless. Phones, largely wired at the time, would go wireless, and TV, largely wireless, would get wired. Gilder called this "the Negroponte Switch," even though Jim McGroddy at IBM or someone at the Media Lab may have suggested it first.

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Grant Goddard

The Wireless

radio specialist

1920s crystal set Radio has always equalled wireless

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Grant Goddard

Piped Radio

radio specialist

Wired radio started in the 1930s

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Grant Goddard

Portable internet radio

radio specialist

Wi-fi delivered radio needs to solve issues to develop momentum: Increased home wi-fi take-up Lower product price point Improved station navigation system Improved bookmarking Longer battery life
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Grant Goddard

In-car wi-fi access

radio specialist

Autonet Mobile Inc. in US Available as an option on rented Avis cars from 7 locations (San Francisco, Newark, New York, Dallas, Miami, West Palm Beach & Fort Lauderdale) US$10.95 per day 100 feet coverage Works over 3G and 2.5G wireless Plugs into the cigarette lighter

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Grant Goddard

The Slacker
Mobile personalised radio Take your stations with you anywhere you go with the Slacker Portable Player. Your custom stations are automatically updated on the Slacker player, ensuring that your favorite music always plays when you want it to. The large 4" screen displays album art, artist information and visualizations in vivid color, allowing you to get your Slacker online experience wherever you might be.

radio specialist

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Wi-max
HEAR 2.0 BLOG by MARK RAMSAY 27 July 2007 THE FUTURE OF RADIO WILL BE AN EXPERIENCE"

Grant Goddard
radio specialist

I have regularly warned about the coming of WiMax which will create much more formidable competition to the radio (and satellite radio) industry than any existing alternative to radio itself. But I think more than a few broadcasters are confused about this threat, thinking it's as simple as thousands of new music options competing against the dozens available on radio now. It's not. In fact, as this new Google/Sprint deal suggests, the availability of audio entertainment wirelessly and in real-time will permanently alter the very experience and definition of radio. BLOG by NICK PIGGOTT (GCap Media head of creative technology) - 30 July 2007 WIMAX NOT RADIOS GREATEST THEAT I wasnt going to follow up on Mark Ramseys recently blog post The Future of Radio Will Be An Experience, as I thought most of it was bang on the money. However, there was part of it that was bugging me, and a conversation with a colleague in the pub after work on Friday prompted me to respond to one point. My colleague expressed his concern as WiMax is going to be a real threat to radio. Mark postulates the same thing periodically in his blog, and used it as a hook in the posting Im referring to. So what did I say to my colleague, admittedly over a couple of pints of Wild Hare, to influence his thinking? We have a real confusion, in part created by the promoters of new technologies like WiMax, between the application and the bearer. The application is what the consumer experiences, and the bearer is how they get it. So in this case, the application is radio and the bearer is WiMax.

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Grant Goddard

The future of radio ??

radio specialist

HEAR 2.0 BLOG by MARK RAMSAY: The future of radio is to be much more than radio. Not simply what's on the radio. The future of radio will be more interactive than passive, more customized than homogenized, more visual and visceral. The future of radio will be an experience, not just a station.

The Future Of Radio Grant Goddard: October 2007

Grant Goddard

There are more questions than answers

How much radio.

radio specialist

will de delivered by terrestrial broadcasting, and how much by wire ? will be mass media, and how much will be personalised ? will be live streamed, and how much will be on-demand ? will be stations, and how much will be utilities (ie: last.fm) ? will be created by other peoples software (ie: Selector), and how much by my own (ie: shuffled mp3s) ? will comprise local content, and how much will not ? will offer one-way communication, and how much two-way ? will be regulated by Ofcom ? will be just music ?
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