Radio Days

Once upon a time, just before television, the way people would get their entertainment was the radio. Families would perch on their couches listening to shows. Shows like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, westerns that, like Star Trek, were commentary on today's society filled the airwaves. Many of the shows made the migration to television.

After the advent of television, radio evolved in other directions. In particular, radio excelled in a medium that was purely auditory. Music. Radio stations played music. Later on, as cars became more prevalent, as commutes got longer, and traffic jams contributed to the long journey to work, long as in time, rather than in distance, other things filled the airwaves.

Beyond music, sports shows with sports pundits became common. Men, who loved their sports on the weekends and Monday nights, could now get their fill of sports as they head to work and returned, listening to the opinions of sports broadcasters. On the flip side was the radio station of the elite, educated, the meritocracy built on intelligence and rational thought, namely, national public radio. This has been augmented by its political cousin, CSPAN for radio.

Thus, television became for the home, and radio became for the road. Indeed, for the average person that's less than an audiophile, the best radio they own, possibly the only one they own is in their car. Few people seem to invest in a nice radio the way they invest in a nice television. Indeed, the only other radio I own, and I barely even think of it as a radio, even though that is what it is, is my clock radio.

Why did that happen?

Indeed, why isn't my television also a radio? I should be able to pick up local stations and listen to the radio, possibly even as I watch television. Perhaps I would prefer commentary on some sports event from the radio rather than television (except, with many shows delayed by at least a few seconds, the audio and video would likely never match).

It's weird that I know how to get a decent television, but have no clue on how to get a decent radio.

And that's perhaps to my everlasting regret.