This topic is 100% political. They know the headphone jack is gone, so there goes the only hope for a decent FM antenna. Hmmm, what do the NAB seek to gain by siding with the FCC?
Let's say a smartphone has its FM receiver enabled. The battery would last a day or two at most. Not good in the face of a disaster.
As many have already pointed out, a cheap FM radio (with its proper antenna) is a MUCH better FM receiver, especially when you factor in its MUCH better battery life.
Be logical - if you can afford a smartphone, you can afford a cheap FM radio. But politics is rarely logical.
If NAB is so into emergencies, how about them pushing the Weather Band. The alerts on the Weather Band are delivered much faster than the commercial radio stations. Just another ridicules idea.
Did you read the blog by NAB? It sounds convincing and Apple definitely owes an explanation.
I read it. It sounds convincing until you factor in REAL technical details, like the wavelength of an FM signal (3 meters or 10 feet). The two wires of a wired set of headphones approximate a 1/4 wavelength each, making a decent antenna. Maybe you can approximate 1/10 wavelength inside the phone by wrapping a wire several times around the perimeter of the phone, but it would still be a poor antenna.
Since the NAB knows about wavelengths, this puff piece is grandstanding.
Instead of FM, everyone should ask Apple to add a feature in Settings call iClean or iClean User Credentials or whatever you want to name. What it does is, It totally removes any association/reference of the device from current and any prior ownership. Means, it removes references from everywhere, iCloud, passcode/touchid, iTune login,manage applid from authentication server and than resets it. It still asks for current user's appleid/password to initiate the feature. But at the end, you can hand over the iDevice to a new owner in a state like when the device was brand new. In Android world, the cleanup of device is so simple. This feature does not compromise any security protection in place. But, Apple will not provide such feature. Apple wants your device to get into activation lock, abandon it and force you to buy new one. It's call civilized extortion..
Um … it’s called a reset and it’s right there in the Settings menu (Settings > General > Reset). It will completely wipe the device.
Instead of FM, everyone should ask Apple to add a feature in Settings call iClean or iClean User Credentials or whatever you want to name. What it does is, It totally removes any association/reference of the device from current and any prior ownership. Means, it removes references from everywhere, iCloud, passcode/touchid, iTune login,manage applid from authentication server and than resets it. It still asks for current user's appleid/password to initiate the feature. But at the end, you can hand over the iDevice to a new owner in a state like when the device was brand new. In Android world, the cleanup of device is so simple. This feature does not compromise any security protection in place. But, Apple will not provide such feature. Apple wants your device to get into activation lock, abandon it and force you to buy new one. It's call civilized extortion..
Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings
Amazon sells some nice all-in-one disaster radios with multiple radio bands, waterproof, flashlight-equipped, hand-crankable (to even charge smartphones and other devices) and even some with solar panels built-in. I think everyone should keep a device like that around for emergencies, especially if you live in places that are prone to flooding or hurricanes. They'll come in handy and they'll be more useful than some smartphone with a built-in FM radio. They should urge all homes to be equipped with such an emergency item. Going after Apple in this case seems rather an unfair bias. Not even all Android smartphones have FM radios. It would be better to just keep a small battery-powered FM radio in the house.
A couple years ago I checked out hand-cranked radios and generators on Amazon. They were supposed to be for disasters but the majority of them appeared to be junk: cheap, plastic, flimsy, and yet somehow still expensive. There were lots of complaints about fragile plastic crank handles that snapped off easily, lousy radio reception, and radios not being waterproof or durable (drop it once and its done) like they had been advertised. And many looked identical even though the brand names and manufacturers were different...must be a lot of white labelling going on. Most weren't worth buying. I ended up giving up and not getting one. But due to recent catastrophes maybe I'll look into them again. Hopefully they've improved.
NAB is jumping in because an FM tuner might increase their listeners. Folks are tuning out from radio as they stream their music commercial free and to their own playlists.
It could be that Pai(d) wasn’t really the one who started this on his own. He is essentially a paid lobbiest who runs the fcc. He was probably their stalking horse in order to bring up the issue so NAB could pile on.
Oh the Golden Era when broadcasters operated "In The Public's interest, convenience and necessity." If there was still a measurable level of local ownership in radio (and TV) I might be a little more open to listening to the NAB's case, but first they have to answer for incidents such as this doozy:
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.
You can buy little fm tuners for about £5. If you really want one. For emergencies AM would be much more useful given its greater range and you can still get small transistor radios too.
lLast time those dumb local flush flood notifications were shoved at me causing entire commuter bus to go into annoying emergency sounds I simply disabled them completely and forever. Come up with something better than yelling at people as if there was fire next to them. Also someone used them for notifying about car and plate for some creep to catch. As much as we are organized society this is not appropriate use of emergency channel and people do not have ability to do police work. Use them properly. If FM would do the same I would look for option to disable it... or change to smartphone that does not have it. If this is purely for convenience when Internet is not available then it would be another story.
Instead of FM, everyone should ask Apple to add a feature in Settings call iClean or iClean User Credentials or whatever you want to name. What it does is, It totally removes any association/reference of the device from current and any prior ownership. Means, it removes references from everywhere, iCloud, passcode/touchid, iTune login,manage applid from authentication server and than resets it. It still asks for current user's appleid/password to initiate the feature. ... But, Apple will not provide such feature.
Wow, you are way off topic. But, unless I’m not following you, this is absolutely possible. Go into Setting>your name>iCloud>Find My iPhone and turn off FMi. This requires your AppleID password. Back out to the top level of Settings, go to General>Reset>Erase All Content and Settings (you may need to enter your passcode). Viola! You’re done. Hand the iPhone (or whatever iOS device) to its new owner and they will have no issues.
Back on topic, occasionally I hear people mention how great it would be to be able to listen to “live radio” on a phone. Personally I don’t see the appeal. I feel like it’s a feature that would be used as much as having a TV tuner so we could watch local stations. Again, no thanks. As mentioned above, how many people did FM radio help during these recent natural disasters?
But overall, whatever. If Apple decides to add an FM tuner to my next iPhone will it negatively affect me? Likely not. And it doesn’t mean I have to use it.
There’s an app for that. Tune-in Radio is one example.
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.
You beat me to it. Was going to say, anyone who could take steps to get out of a disaster zone has a car to do so, and that car very likely has an FM radio.
Did you read the blog by NAB? It sounds convincing and Apple definitely owes an explanation.
I read it. It sounds convincing until you factor in REAL technical details, like the wavelength of an FM signal (3 meters or 10 feet). The two wires of a wired set of headphones approximate a 1/4 wavelength each, making a decent antenna. Maybe you can approximate 1/10 wavelength inside the phone by wrapping a wire several times around the perimeter of the phone, but it would still be a poor antenna.
Since the NAB knows about wavelengths, this puff piece is grandstanding.
Edit for grammar.
Plus the fact Apple is [thankfully] leading us toward a wireless world, where there are no headphone wires.
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.
Just like mag-stripe cards payments and signing cheques, the US clings onto old tech for as long as possible. I thought most countries were switching to digital radio anyway, Norway I believe have already started the FM shutdown and will be completely off by 2022.
I can't see phone manufacturers persisting with an aging tech that will only be used in the north american market.
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Let's say a smartphone has its FM receiver enabled. The battery would last a day or two at most. Not good in the face of a disaster.
As many have already pointed out, a cheap FM radio (with its proper antenna) is a MUCH better FM receiver, especially when you factor in its MUCH better battery life.
Be logical - if you can afford a smartphone, you can afford a cheap FM radio. But politics is rarely logical.
Since the NAB knows about wavelengths, this puff piece is grandstanding.
Edit for grammar.
Done.
This has been in iOS since the beginning.
It could be that Pai(d) wasn’t really the one who started this on his own. He is essentially a paid lobbiest who runs the fcc. He was probably their stalking horse in order to bring up the issue so NAB could pile on.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/05/will-clear-channel-ever-live-down-the-minot-toxic-spill-disaster/
Serious failure. And this is not an isolated incident.
You want FM coverage? Buy an FM radio. And good luck with that.
You beat me to it. Was going to say, anyone who could take steps to get out of a disaster zone has a car to do so, and that car very likely has an FM radio.
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.
I can't see phone manufacturers persisting with an aging tech that will only be used in the north american market.