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Apple isn't activating it because it "might undermine Beats One"? Oh give me a break. You can stream just about any FM station you want with apps like TuneIn Ra
by abalone 10y ago
Apple isn't activating it because it "might undermine Beats One"? Oh give me a break. You can stream just about any FM station you want with apps like TuneIn Radio.
- fit2rule 10y agoThe point is, Apple has a vested interest in making sure you're using TCP/IP to do that streaming, instead of just tuning into a radio signal from space. The investment in the network of users is so high, and such a massive profit factor, that there is no incentive to flip the FM bit, for the users. Since it will mean less streaming will occur (you're not using TCP/IP when you're listening to FM radio..) Its Apple, jealously guarding its piece of the OSI-model pie, and us users getting screwed in the process. I, for one, would very much enjoy being able to use my phone for FM radio .. heck, I'd like to use it for local peer-to-peer communications too, but we know how hard-bound the radio is for that purpose ..
- abalone 10y agoI don't follow your logic. The iPhone would receive audio from the station over "a radio signal from space" either way. TCP/IP is just a protocol. What is the "massive profit factor" Apple enjoys from using that protocol?
- lostlogin 10y agoApple make money from me using the internet apparently. /s
- fit2rule 10y agoIn fact, they do.
- spacehome 10y agoA citation needed would be appropriate here.
- fit2rule 10y agoConsider this: Apple have been selling Internet access for decades now. They're leaders in the "hey, use this device for TCP/IP" pack.
- abalone 10y agoYou haven't explained how this makes them more profit than selling direct FM radio access.
- fit2rule 10y agoThey have marketing deals with vendors of TCP/IP services to provide handsets which promote broader use of TCP/IP over provider networks. Does nobody remember that Apple have had deals with ISP's since the very early days, and continue those deals as part of their overall strategy?
- fit2rule 10y agoAll the deals Apple made with the cell co's to get their users to suck up the bandwidth, duh. Cellular Data rates being what they are, I fail to see how anyone cannot see the profit motive. If you're listening to Spotify instead of FM radio, you're fulfilling one of the promises Apple made to the cell co's: we will give you users who will use our phones to suck up Cellular Data ..
- scholia 10y agoCan you ELI5 why this is a benefit, please? Cellular bandwidth is expensive and supplies are finite. You can add more bandwidth, but that generally means building more cell towers etc. By contrast, a single FM broadcast can support millions of users (within the transmitter's footprint), and you can add millions more listeners for no extra cost. The mobile phone companies are using Wi-Fi and other means to save cellular bandwidth. Wouldn't it make sense for them to encourage the use of FM to save cellular bandwidth?
- fit2rule 10y agoYes, actually, FM is very much the opposite of the Internet, in that you can broadcast as hard as you want, and its up to the recipient to tune in and get the signal. At a mass scale, FM is pretty efficient if you need to get an emergency message out. TCP/IP, however, requires the active cooperation and participation (and ultimately: control) of each node in between you and the site of interest. It takes mass team-work to make TCP/IP happen; it is automated cooperation at a bit level. Bits travel well, when its all plugged in. When things are not plugged in, we could still be using FM to receive information/music/entertainment, etc. FM is more resilient to the fragilities of the Internet. The problem is, some of the Bits are owned by Operators. The owning and moderation of some of those Bits, in fact, involves a lot of Operators. Apple cater to them, the Operators. Not the owners of FM Broadcast equipment...
- pjc50 10y agoIf Apple didn't want you to have an FM radio, they wouldn't put it on the phone. It's the _carriers_ that oppose it.
- culturestate 10y agoI think iMessage proved that Apple could give a damn what the carriers want.
- lostlogin 10y agoThis may be a failing of mine or a regional thing, but what does this comment mean? I read it literally as saying that Apple has done what carriers want and has made iMessage to suit carriers. I suspect that this is the opposite of what is intended though, as iMessage disempowers carriers imho. How does culturestate's comment work?
- phreaky 10y ago"Could give a damn" and "couldn't give a damn" can be used as synonyms in American slang. Or it might just be the South.
- lostlogin 10y agoThanks, now this says something that squares with what I would expect it to mean. Strange how dropping that very key word leaves the same meaning. Still, English has many strange quirks.
- DigitalJack 10y agoIt's super annoying but it has to do with misunderstandings and mispronunciations finding their way into common language. Another terrible one is "I could care less" vs "I couldn't care less." Both mean the same thing in the common language, but if I hear someone say the "could" version, they lose a lot of respect in my eyes. Languages evolve, and mostly it irritates me. I hate that the English Dictionaries used to be an authoritative source, and are now just a reflection of common usage. Yet at the same time I recognize the need for languages to evolve as life does not stand still.
- zymhan 10y agoIs Beats Radio not a competitor to terrestrial radio? They both aim to provide the same service. They both pay fees to the same record labels. Far, far more people are more familiar with FM radio than TuneIn.
- abalone 10y agoDisabling the FM chip function doesn't make 3rd party radio apps any less discoverable.