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While half-baked conspiracy theories are fun, a good journalist would've consulted a few more sources to get to the bottom of this story. FM radio requires a l
by mrshoe 11y ago
While half-baked conspiracy theories are fun, a good journalist would've consulted a few more sources to get to the bottom of this story.
FM radio requires a large antenna. It will not work without one. The 5th generation iPod nano (2009) was the first iPod with an (enabled) FM radio. We used the headphone wire as the antenna. It worked well enough. While there was a tiny speaker in those iPods, headphones were the only practical way to listen to audio.
That's not the case with phones. People listen to the built-in speaker, and they listen over bluetooth and WiFi. It's becoming less and less common to plug headphones into these devices. That being the case, including an FM radio feature would just be a horrible experience for the majority of users: they'd hear nothing but static, all the time. I don't know about the other smartphone makers, but Apple will not ship something that will likely be a horrible experience for most users. Couple that with very low demand from users (as the article points out) and there's no FM radio on iPhones.
- fragmede 11y ago> People listen to the built-in speaker, and they listen over bluetooth and WiFi. [citation needed] All the smartphones I'm aware of on the market still include a headphone jack. Hell, the new Macbook with the USB-C connector has two plugs. A USB-C connector, and an audio jack.
- sliverstorm 11y agoAnecdote of size one, but while I do use the headphone jack, Bluetooth is quickly taking over when it comes to listening to audio. Bluetooth head unit in my car, Bluetooth earbuds, Bluetooth mini-speaker, Bluetooth to my hifi rig...
- jimmaswell 11y agoI severely hope device ma ufacturers don't start not including headphone jacks, in favor of bluetooth connections. The only headphones I'd be able to use on those would be significantly more expensive, unless I just had a bluetooth audio receiver that had a 3.5mm hole, which I'd still have to charge or replace the batteries of
- Pyxl101 11y agoWould it not be reasonable to recommend plugging in headphones before using the FM radio? People who really want radio for whatever reason can do it.
- lelandbatey 11y agoThat is exactly what happens on my phone which has an fm radio app: http://imgur.com/0OITkLe.png http://imgur.com/0OITkLe.png
- Coding_Cat 11y agoSame for my Galaxy S3, it has a radio app but it needs a pair of headphones to be plugged in.
- kzrdude 11y agoMine includes the antenna explanation with the admonition.
- mrshoe 11y agoFor iPod users, that is entirely reasonable (since they are basically required to have headphones handy to use the device at all), and that is exactly what we did. For iPhone users, who never took their headphones out of the box, or lost them months ago, or simply left them at home today... it's less reasonable. The fact is, most iPhone users don't have their headphones with them most of the time. That means the vast majority of launches of the Radio app would go straight to the "Please plug in your headphones" screen, at which point the user would be frustrated because they don't have headphones to plug in. Whether it's worth it to include a feature that would result in frustration for many users, but yield utility for some users, is always a tough call. It's not black and white.
- bmm6o 11y agoMaybe it's just the people I know, but I can't remember the last time someone played music from their phone without headphones. The only time I do it is by accident.
- Dylan16807 11y agoEvery phone supports headphones. Headphones are not a horrible experience.
- ctdonath 11y agoRequiring them is.
- ossreality 11y agoFor a completely optional add-on feature. What mental magic are people doing to conclude that this is a bad idea? Is it because the Apple guy said something against it? Christ.
- MatthaeusHarris 11y agoThe phone uses the headphone wire as an FM antenna. It's not arbitrary; it's a necessary part of making an FM radio work well.
- sliverstorm 11y agoAs a point of reference, my Motorola smartphones all have an FM radio app that refuses to run if wired headphones are not connected- and if you ever disconnect them, the app stops playing music and throws an error. You can even listen over a bluetooth accessory- so long as you have headphones connected... http://i.imgur.com/TMCyQwI.png http://i.imgur.com/TMCyQwI.png
- Lord_Zero 11y agoI dont see why we cant include a software feature to prompt the user for headphones and still allow sound to the loudspeaker.
- ctdonath 11y agoBecause having to attach headphones only to not use them as headphones makes for a stupid-looking user experience. Most users don't comprehend "antennas", much less using headphone wires as such. Prompting for headphones but using the speaker would result in most users coiling up the headphone cable (in bewilderment) which pretty much defeats the point of having an antenna. Never mind the fact that not all users would use headphones not suitable for use as an FM antenna (too long or short, wrong impedance matching, etc).
- est 11y ago> Most users don't comprehend "antennas", much less using headphone wires as such Most other people out side US understand "antennas" just fine.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- tinco 11y agoIt wasn't their intention to be good journalists in this article. > "But the mobile industry, which profits from selling data to smartphone users, says that with the consumer's move toward mobile streaming apps, the demand for radio simply isn't there." They are positioning the mobile industry so they look as if they're trying to profit from denying users FM radio. It's sad that a news agency that prides on being for the public and independent so easily turns to straight up propaganda when it's to push their own agenda.
- whichfawkes 11y agoDoes NPR actually make money from their radio broadcasts?
- tinco 11y agoGood question, according to wikipedia: "In contrast with commercial broadcasting, NPR's radio broadcasts do not carry traditional commercials, but has advertising in the form of brief statements from major sponsors which may include corporate slogans, descriptions of products and services, contact information such as website addresses and telephone numbers." They have a revenue of about 180 million. I don't actually think they're doing this for the money, they are a non-profit after all. I believe them when they just want the public to have access to FM radio. All the more reason for them not to engage in dirt writing like this.
- ghshephard 11y agoI listen to the radio all the time on my $28 Nokia 105. It has a headphone detector, and won't launch the Radio App if it doesn't detect headphones. If a $28 phone 1/5th the size of the iPhone (with a 20x battery life) can play radio stations flawlessly, I can't think of very many reasons why a $900 iPhone can't do the same thing.
- aluhut 11y agoI can think of one: iTunes. No other reasons required.
- whichfawkes 11y agoIf you like half-baked conspiracy theories, what do you have to say about the removal of microSD cards from Android phones? I think that's far more damning.
- ossreality 11y ago""It's becoming less and less common to plug headphones into these devices."" You must be kidding me.
- cxseven 11y agoI wonder if it's possible to use a USB cable as an antenna.
- StavrosK 11y ago> While half-baked conspiracy theories are fun I was on the same boat as you, and then I found out that these FM receivers are only disabled in the US. Seriously, the same models have perfectly enabled FM receivers in other countries. When I open the FM radio app on my Z3, it goes "please plug in your headphones to listen to the radio, they act as a necessary antenna", and refuses to start otherwise, and that's that.