As owner of an app development company I always carry 1 iPhone and 1 Android phone with me. One of the reasons I use my Android phone as my primary device is the included FM receiver, I travel a lot by train for professional reasons and it is for me just a natural thing to listen to the FM radio while working on the train (using my MBP). Listening the internet radio is not really an option because of the intermittent bad quality and cost. Of course YMMV
There are a lot of issues in emergencies like the wildfire in Northern California that require rethinking of both how Cellular is used in emergency notifications and a workaround when Cellular towers fail. The handset is not the limiting factor in the above case, and FM radio of any kind including embedded in phones would have been essentially useless
Scenarios like this reveal the true commitment of companies to people and the environment. But since they are usually too busy making money instead, there is a good final solution. Regulate it by law. End of problem. Forever.
Wait, let me understand. The companies that are advancing technology and leading us to a wireless world and that actually have radio technology already in their products (you know, the cellular radios that bring you the entire internet including live radio), those are the companies that are too busy making money? I’d say they’ve done their part.
How about pointing your finger at the companies that erect and maintain cellular towers? How about asking them to harden their towers so that they withstand disasters and have redundancy? Why go back to FM, one-way communication capability when there’s a whole planet already populated with cellular two-way communication? Harden that, make that work, it’s already in 100% of smartphones, and even in feature phones too. This notion of going backwards to FM is senseless.
Yeah, when the ice storm brought the whole electric grid in Quebec, the answer to that was not asking people to own mandatory generators, but to harden those towers so they would not fall down and the power station's transformer all overload and explode.
Seems that those POS telecoms who make money like water, but carry often crappy equipment on 20 years old rickety towers, are the ones that should get their knuckles whacked.
There is in fact no reason why many of those towers could not resist those winds, even at cat 4.
Scenarios like this reveal the true commitment of companies to people and the environment. But since they are usually too busy making money instead, there is a good final solution. Regulate it by law. End of problem. Forever.
I stand corrected on a previous remark I made about the dumbest thing I've heard all week.
What did these people study in school? Political Science? It is like National Restaurant Association asking all French Restaurants to serve "French Fries"
Besides, if the cell towers were destroyed, it is likely FM radio towers were destroyed or without power. Instead of adding component in a phone that you won't need 99% of the time, just buy an emergency radio.
Not necessarily. FM stations can have a wide footprint of 50 miles or more, likely outside of a severely devastated area. Emergency transmitters can be set up quickly as well.
Scenarios like this reveal the true commitment of companies to people and the environment. But since they are usually too busy making money instead, there is a good final solution. Regulate it by law. End of problem. Forever.
What's your commitment to people and the environment, Mr. Brownshirt? Why don't we pass a law requiring you to march around your town announcing the news?
As owner of an app development company I always carry 1 iPhone and 1 Android phone with me. One of the reasons I use my Android phone as my primary device is the included FM receiver, I travel a lot by train for professional reasons and it is for me just a natural thing to listen to the FM radio while working on the train (using my MBP). Listening the internet radio is not really an option because of the intermittent bad quality and cost. Of course YMMV
Between podcasts and streaming music (both of which can be cached for off-line listening), I have no interest in FM radio. So yes, my mileage varies greatly from yours.
What did these people study in school? Political Science? It is like National Restaurant Association asking all French Restaurants to serve "French Fries"
Besides, if the cell towers were destroyed, it is likely FM radio towers were destroyed or without power. Instead of adding component in a phone that you won't need 99% of the time, just buy an emergency radio.
Your analogy is on the right track, but it would be the National Potato Growers of America insisting on universal french fry coverage. The National Restaurant Association would oppose any such mandates.
Personally, I would like to have a FM radio in my iPhone but I admit I would rarely use it. It was nice to have in the iPod Nano for occasional use. I like tech that works even when the cell phone system does not or is not present.
Anyone who lives in disaster prone areas should have a hand crank emergency radio. What good is a phone going to do if the battery is dead and you can't charge it. Even if you have some battery left, you better be saving it just in case you are in a rescue situation.
Scenarios like this reveal the true commitment of companies to people and the environment. But since they are usually too busy making money instead, there is a good final solution. Regulate it by law. End of problem. Forever.
I stand corrected on a previous remark I made about the dumbest thing I've heard all week.
I expect that kind of comment from some people, but not from you, Mike. You're better than this. Insults contribute nothing to the dialog. Besides, you're a representative of Apple Insider so you're held to a higher standard.
If you disagree with what someone writes, explain why. If there's misinformation, correct it. Denigrating others accomplishes nothing.
I quit reading Apple Insider for a while because of the toxic forum environment. When I checked back in for some specific information I found the situation had improved so I stuck around. People like you provide the leadership in that direction. Showing basic respect for others and common civility create a better environment for disseminating useful and accurate information.
Thank you for your interesting articles and helpful follow-up posts in the forums.
I want Nissan to activate the four wheel drive system I’m convinced is hiding inside my Altima in case of emergency situations. /s
Nice. While I appreciate the laugh, I'm not sure it was worth spewing coffee out my nose.
Your comment brought my attention to your user name. Are you not finding it difficult to remain a Ferrari F1 fan? The place for one of the best drivers in the world to compete for the championship would seem to be a seat in a race car, not one in the garage.
I have a transistor radio in the storage. Never used it except to check it’s working. NAB and Pai is causing additional and unnecessary cost to buy an iPhone. Transistor radios are basically free and being given away to those who wants them.
No they're not. Tell me where I can get a free radio.
But the proposal is silly for other reasons. Aside from all-news radio stations, which only exist in a few big cities and are mostly AM anyway, most radio stations don't have a local staff to report news anyway. And when cell and web communications go down (never mind power) and it's too dangerous to go outside, there's no way for most of those radio stations to find useful information to broadcast anyway (although I did hear of a radio station in Texas in which two guys stayed on the air for 48-hours straight broadcasting news about the storm). When radio was de-regulated during the Clinton administration, that ended most requirements to "operate in the public interest" which also ended full-service radio (news and public service). Once that happened, music stations decided to do nothing but play music and today, even much of that is voice-tracked and played from the computer. There's no one home at the station itself most of the time and the people who are there don't do news.
And that's aside from the fact that if cell towers go down in a storm, so will most radio towers. And even if they don't, it's a moot point if radio stations and the transmitter don't have backup power and that the backup power doesn't fail, as it often does.
Radio became crap when conglomerates bought up all the stations and went into huge debt. They had to lower costs to pay the debt service. Although this was largely Congress' fault, maybe the FCC should have maintained some public service requirements instead of allowing the conglomerates to give us fast-food radio. Then there would have been a reason for smartphones to maintain FM service.
In related news, Trump administration shaming Apple for not outfitting iPhones with desalinators.
"Water is crucial to survival during an emergency," Sanders said.
If you need an FM radio for emergencies, you can buy one on eBay for as low as $1.00, including shipping. Or sit in your car and listen to it there.
Exactly. We got a great one in case Irma took us out here on the west coast of Florida a few weeks back, it also has a very good LED light, solar cells and a crank handle that gives 6 hours power. It can even charge your iPhone and iPad with the crank charging via USB. $19 on Amazon.
Scenarios like this reveal the true commitment of companies to people and the environment. But since they are usually too busy making money instead, there is a good final solution. Regulate it by law. End of problem. Forever.
I stand corrected on a previous remark I made about the dumbest thing I've heard all week.
I expect that kind of comment from some people, but not from you, Mike. You're better than this. Insults contribute nothing to the dialog. Besides, you're a representative of Apple Insider so you're held to a higher standard.
If you disagree with what someone writes, explain why. If there's misinformation, correct it. Denigrating others accomplishes nothing.
I quit reading Apple Insider for a while because of the toxic forum environment. When I checked back in for some specific information I found the situation had improved so I stuck around. People like you provide the leadership in that direction. Showing basic respect for others and common civility create a better environment for disseminating useful and accurate information.
Thank you for your interesting articles and helpful follow-up posts in the forums.
Okay, fine:
From the article: Apple said in response to the FCC that the FM radio isn't included in the modem chipset.
Also from the article: there is no antenna connection from the modem chipset suitable for FM. Also from the article: there is no headphone jack to allow for a 2 meter antenna.
So, sure. Let's propose it be regulated it by law. Let's force Apple to turn it on, somehow, magically. And, let's reiterate the claim from the previous article, already refuted profoundly and with no wiggle room, that Apple must do so. So, sure, let's go ahead and put this on Apple for a one-way communication method, instead of the carriers to keep their two-way method up to snuff.
You know what would be even better for disasters? AM radio. But yet, somehow, there's no call for them to implement it -- and it would require the same engineering effort to do so since FM is literally not able to be turned on.
The poster I responded to historically posts factually-light responses, paired with a willful lack of reading comprehension, and the seeming inability to understand that Apple operates outside his needs. This time was sadly no different. I have tried over many dozens of articles to educate accordingly, and yet somehow, here we are.
Regarding respect. I have it for 99.9% of you, even the ones I disagree with profoundly - and respect is my default condition. That remaining 0.1 percent that took it upon themselves to prove themselves not worthy of it? That's a different matter.
Comments
There are a lot of issues in emergencies like the wildfire in Northern California that require rethinking of both how Cellular is used in emergency notifications and a workaround when Cellular towers fail. The handset is not the limiting factor in the above case, and FM radio of any kind including embedded in phones would have been essentially useless
In a nutshell, NAB is full of shit.
Seems that those POS telecoms who make money like water, but carry often crappy equipment on 20 years old rickety towers, are the ones that should get their knuckles whacked.
There is in fact no reason why many of those towers could not resist those winds, even at cat 4.
If you disagree with what someone writes, explain why. If there's misinformation, correct it. Denigrating others accomplishes nothing.
I quit reading Apple Insider for a while because of the toxic forum environment. When I checked back in for some specific information I found the situation had improved so I stuck around. People like you provide the leadership in that direction. Showing basic respect for others and common civility create a better environment for disseminating useful and accurate information.
Thank you for your interesting articles and helpful follow-up posts in the forums.
Nice. While I appreciate the laugh, I'm not sure it was worth spewing coffee out my nose.
Your comment brought my attention to your user name. Are you not finding it difficult to remain a Ferrari F1 fan? The place for one of the best drivers in the world to compete for the championship would seem to be a seat in a race car, not one in the garage.
But the proposal is silly for other reasons. Aside from all-news radio stations, which only exist in a few big cities and are mostly AM anyway, most radio stations don't have a local staff to report news anyway. And when cell and web communications go down (never mind power) and it's too dangerous to go outside, there's no way for most of those radio stations to find useful information to broadcast anyway (although I did hear of a radio station in Texas in which two guys stayed on the air for 48-hours straight broadcasting news about the storm). When radio was de-regulated during the Clinton administration, that ended most requirements to "operate in the public interest" which also ended full-service radio (news and public service). Once that happened, music stations decided to do nothing but play music and today, even much of that is voice-tracked and played from the computer. There's no one home at the station itself most of the time and the people who are there don't do news.
And that's aside from the fact that if cell towers go down in a storm, so will most radio towers. And even if they don't, it's a moot point if radio stations and the transmitter don't have backup power and that the backup power doesn't fail, as it often does.
Radio became crap when conglomerates bought up all the stations and went into huge debt. They had to lower costs to pay the debt service. Although this was largely Congress' fault, maybe the FCC should have maintained some public service requirements instead of allowing the conglomerates to give us fast-food radio. Then there would have been a reason for smartphones to maintain FM service.
Also from the article: there is no headphone jack to allow for a 2 meter antenna.
So, sure. Let's propose it be regulated it by law. Let's force Apple to turn it on, somehow, magically. And, let's reiterate the claim from the previous article, already refuted profoundly and with no wiggle room, that Apple must do so. So, sure, let's go ahead and put this on Apple for a one-way communication method, instead of the carriers to keep their two-way method up to snuff.
You know what would be even better for disasters? AM radio. But yet, somehow, there's no call for them to implement it -- and it would require the same engineering effort to do so since FM is literally not able to be turned on.