The Public Radio Tuner
RRC founder Tom Church once said you can’t go to Radio Shack and buy a public radio. He was right when he said it. Today, thanks to computer technology, we could actually create a “public” radio.
It's name could be The Public Radio Tuner.
It’s an icon in the system tray of the computer’s desktop. As soon as you click it, it starts playing your favorite public radio station via the web. Just one click and you get sound. Just like turning on a radio.
Some extra features. Roll the mouse over the icon and it shows the tuner, which has presets for additional public radio streams, a button to access your podcast downloads, and a link to the station web site.
And those little balloons that remind you that you have software upgrades? They can be used to send alerts to listeners. Your newscast is ready. Fresh Air is on now. There’s a dollar-for-dollar match going on right now.
An on-line radio tuner isn’t a particularly new idea. The idea here is that public radio could, and should, own the space.
It's name could be The Public Radio Tuner.
It’s an icon in the system tray of the computer’s desktop. As soon as you click it, it starts playing your favorite public radio station via the web. Just one click and you get sound. Just like turning on a radio.
Some extra features. Roll the mouse over the icon and it shows the tuner, which has presets for additional public radio streams, a button to access your podcast downloads, and a link to the station web site.
And those little balloons that remind you that you have software upgrades? They can be used to send alerts to listeners. Your newscast is ready. Fresh Air is on now. There’s a dollar-for-dollar match going on right now.
An on-line radio tuner isn’t a particularly new idea. The idea here is that public radio could, and should, own the space.
posted by RadioSutton at 8:40 AM
4 Comments:
No reason The Public Radio Tuner couldn't have a link to PRX. And it should provide fast access to on-demand dowloads as well as streams. But it would be to public radio's advantage to make it easier to hear on-line. Why tag on to commercial ventures? We're big enough to make it on our own.
This reminds me of Rabbit Radio, a Dashboard widget for the Mac -- perhaps a step in this direction.
I think it's a great idea. I see the web medium providing more choices for the listener. NPR needs to be in the system tray as well as on the dashboard.
You mean no one here knows about http://www.publicradiofan.com?
It's two clicks away, not one...
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