4 ms·

This is poor journalism, particularly coming from NPR. The NAB (including NPR) are lobbying to force all phones to include an FM radio. Since they can't say,

This is poor journalism, particularly coming from NPR. The NAB (including NPR) are lobbying to force all phones to include an FM radio. Since they can't say, "we want this to increase our ad revenue," they're using the tried and true, "it's a must for national security" approach. They've previously tried to get language added to Homeland Security bills that would force phone manufacturers to include radios. Besides, forcing phone manufacturers to include a radio won't save the radio industry. Radio audiences are declining for the same reason broadcast TV audiences are: it's a one-size fits all product on a strict schedule that's overflowing with ads. It was in decline well before the smart phone. https://recodetech.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/arbitron-1980-2008.png https://recodetech.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/arbitron-1980...

nulltype 12y ago
I used to listen to FM radio all the time. I personally think podcasts are way better and would not be surprised if most consumers agree.
- emp_ 12y ago
  I have one remark about live sports, I like the idea of listening live events that have no data costs associated.
  - ericcumbee 12y ago
    That is the only reason I would use it. I attend Georgia Southern Football games and like to listen to the Radio Broadcast during the game. Streaming is normally well behind the game when it works. Most of the time there are to many people in the stadium and you can not get a reliable data connection.
- r00fus 12y ago
  My only use for FM radio would be to listen to the TV audio at a gym.
kevinskii 12y ago
There's a difference between including an FM radio and simply turning on a pre-existing one via a software update, which apparently is possible on at least some phone models. And regardless of NPR's motives, their "it's needed for emergencies" argument is a pretty good one.
- wtallis 12y ago
  And selling hardware that's been crippled in some way always makes people uncomfortable. Whether it's an FM tuner being turned off, tethering being blocked, CPU features turned off, or whatever, manufacturing a working product and then selling it in a less-working state is worrisome and shouldn't be automatically considered acceptable. It's a strong indicator of a possible market failure and a sure sign that the consumer's ownership rights have been compromised.
  - cbhl 12y ago
    The hardware isn't crippled; you can root your phone and install an FM Radio app yourself.
    - wtallis 12y ago
      In some jurisdictions you can sometimes root your phone, if someone has put the effort into defeating the technical obstacles put in place to enforce the crippling. Other phones include a tuner that is disabled through hardware means.
    - whoopdedo 12y ago
      There's no guarantee that the FM antenna pin on the chip is connected to anything.
- surge 12y ago
  Text broadcasts are just as effective.
- ctdonath 12y ago
  Just because the hardware is present doesn't mean it's easy to enable. Sure, the radio chip used in the iPhone may have an FM capability, but enabling it requires resources to write apps supporting it (you'd expect an FM-capable iPhone to have an FM app, right?), handle additional hardware considerations (FM that close to such a compact radio-noisy device may require nontrivial RF electronics & packaging changes), add an antenna (FM antennas are much longer than cellular ones, where to put it?), address convenience factors (using the headphones wire as an antenna only works insofar as there is a wired headphone attached, what about when it's not?), and generally adds complexity to a device that the designers didn't want that capability in to start with. Instead of getting the FM receiver component enabled, you're more likely to have Apple et al tell & pay the radio chip makers to remove FM capability so they don't have to deal with some third party abusing the police power of the state to compel the manufacturers to make something do what they didn't want it to.
CraigRood 12y ago
I'm not sure this is the reason at all. Talk of FM on iPhones goes back many years - even leading to rumours of iOS updates brining FM support, but they obviously never materialised. Nowadays I think the FM part is basically down to the chips themselves and the low-cost solution to have a generic chip that does all, instead of having a limited subset of functions based on each deal.
- mcshicks 12y ago
  I used to work on combo bluetooth/fm/wifi chips that are used in cell phone applications. There is additional cost to make it work, both for bill of materials as well as recurring and non-recurring testing. So many customers preferred only to use the bluetooth/wifi portion of the chip. We even had a FM TX version in some chips.

nulltype 12y ago

I used to listen to FM radio all the time. I personally think podcasts are way better and would not be surprised if most consumers agree.

emp_ 12y ago
I have one remark about live sports, I like the idea of listening live events that have no data costs associated.
- ericcumbee 12y ago
  That is the only reason I would use it. I attend Georgia Southern Football games and like to listen to the Radio Broadcast during the game. Streaming is normally well behind the game when it works. Most of the time there are to many people in the stadium and you can not get a reliable data connection.
r00fus 12y ago
My only use for FM radio would be to listen to the TV audio at a gym.

kevinskii 12y ago

There's a difference between including an FM radio and simply turning on a pre-existing one via a software update, which apparently is possible on at least some phone models. And regardless of NPR's motives, their "it's needed for emergencies" argument is a pretty good one.

wtallis 12y ago
And selling hardware that's been crippled in some way always makes people uncomfortable. Whether it's an FM tuner being turned off, tethering being blocked, CPU features turned off, or whatever, manufacturing a working product and then selling it in a less-working state is worrisome and shouldn't be automatically considered acceptable. It's a strong indicator of a possible market failure and a sure sign that the consumer's ownership rights have been compromised.
- cbhl 12y ago
  The hardware isn't crippled; you can root your phone and install an FM Radio app yourself.
  - wtallis 12y ago
    In some jurisdictions you can sometimes root your phone, if someone has put the effort into defeating the technical obstacles put in place to enforce the crippling. Other phones include a tuner that is disabled through hardware means.
  - whoopdedo 12y ago
    There's no guarantee that the FM antenna pin on the chip is connected to anything.
surge 12y ago
Text broadcasts are just as effective.
ctdonath 12y ago
Just because the hardware is present doesn't mean it's easy to enable. Sure, the radio chip used in the iPhone may have an FM capability, but enabling it requires resources to write apps supporting it (you'd expect an FM-capable iPhone to have an FM app, right?), handle additional hardware considerations (FM that close to such a compact radio-noisy device may require nontrivial RF electronics & packaging changes), add an antenna (FM antennas are much longer than cellular ones, where to put it?), address convenience factors (using the headphones wire as an antenna only works insofar as there is a wired headphone attached, what about when it's not?), and generally adds complexity to a device that the designers didn't want that capability in to start with. Instead of getting the FM receiver component enabled, you're more likely to have Apple et al tell & pay the radio chip makers to remove FM capability so they don't have to deal with some third party abusing the police power of the state to compel the manufacturers to make something do what they didn't want it to.

CraigRood 12y ago

I'm not sure this is the reason at all. Talk of FM on iPhones goes back many years - even leading to rumours of iOS updates brining FM support, but they obviously never materialised. Nowadays I think the FM part is basically down to the chips themselves and the low-cost solution to have a generic chip that does all, instead of having a limited subset of functions based on each deal.

mcshicks 12y ago
I used to work on combo bluetooth/fm/wifi chips that are used in cell phone applications. There is additional cost to make it work, both for bill of materials as well as recurring and non-recurring testing. So many customers preferred only to use the bluetooth/wifi portion of the chip. We even had a FM TX version in some chips.