Asking a question I probably already know the answer to...

[lost_soul]

Why is it there is no small MP3 player with an AM radio? You can get them with FM radios... I bet it is because the microprocessor and display would reak havoc with the reception due to EMI, but it would still be nice to have. Given that FM radio is **** and not worth listening to if one is already carrying around over a week's worth of music.

 

Holding an MP3 player up to an AM radio causes loud static (even while the screen is off but the player is turned on). I do have a portable CD player sitting here with AM reception though, so there must be a way to do it... or they just completely stop the processor/decoder during AM playback. This CD player also plays MP3 CDs, but it isn't worth carrying around because you can only get about 100 songs on a CD.

Edited April 29, 2012 by lost_soul

[OrbWeaver]

Why is it there is no small MP3 player with an AM radio? You can get them with FM radios... I bet it is because the microprocessor and display would reak havoc with the reception due to EMI,

 

More likely it's because AM radio (and analogue radio in general) is basically an obsolete technology that nobody is investing in any more, at least at the consumer level (I'm sure it is still widely used for military applications, shipping etc). The number of people who would want an up-to-date MP3 player that also includes support for an ancient radio standard must be vanishingly small.

 

Also, as I recall AM receivers used a moderately large coil as an antenna, which is presumably why AM radios tended to be fairly large while walkmans with radio capability only supported FM.

[demagogue]

Haha reminds me of somebody going off in a Facebook comment yesterday about something Rush Limbaugh had said the day before, and I thought to myself (and posted): wow, do people still even listen to radio? Much less care about something actually said on it... Already feels like a world long gone like black & white tv.

[jaxa]

I listen to FM radio all the time... streamed over the Internet.

 

And I'm pretty sure that a walkman the size of my palm was able to receive FM, FM2, AM, the weather band and even the audio from broadcast TV (probably not anymore now that the digital switch happened).

[Glyph Seeker]

My mobile phone has FM - sometimes it has been a source of sanity as I tune it to BBC Radio 4. <3

[PranQster]

Haha reminds me of somebody going off in a Facebook comment yesterday about something Rush Limbaugh had said the day before, and I thought to myself (and posted): wow, do people still even listen to radio? Much less care about something actually said on it... Already feels like a world long gone like black & white tv.

Yeah a lot of people still listen to radio, especially Rush's audience, lol.

Also, though I'm not positive, I believe Rush L's show is broadcast on digital radio, such as XM and Sirius. A lot of cars are sold with that option these days, so many people listen while driving.

Also, internet streaming is available to many radio stations and people 'tune' in at the office with their pc or phone. One nice app is TuneInRadio. I found radio stations on there I forgot even existed, plus little independent stations from my hometown.

Edited May 3, 2012 by PranQster

[demagogue]

Obviously I was exaggerating for the joke. But I wouldn't doubt that Rush's audience is still pretty much hanging out in the 20th century in a lot of ways. As for me, I just open up Pandora on my PC and let it go. With ads now it's not that different from radio anyway though. I do go link chasing in YouTube quite a bit too if I have the time.

[ungoliant]

i tend to let other people do my research for me. I haven't used pandora, but soulseek is a nice p2p fileshare program for mp3s that has a feature where you input an artist, and a user-generated list will pop up of other artists you may like, which you can then easily search and download mp3's from. I'd rather that other likeminded consumers give me ideas of new music to listen to instead of corporate douchebag radio and the record companies that control them.

[lost_soul]

I'm sure its mostly creative commons music... lol

 

The other day I saw an amazing thing. The composer of some great music from a game which came out two decades ago was at a place where fans were playing his music, and he got up and joined them. Sadly the other composer who also made some of the music died back in the late-2000s... lung cancer apparently.

Edited May 5, 2012 by lost_soul

[jdude]

The cheaper mp3 players tend to have FM radios. Plus I can't tell any quality difference between and expensive ipod and a cheap 20 dollar mp3 player. The quality is in the headphones.

 

I have a Samsung MP3 player from 2005 which I still use to this day. It has 512mb, enough for me to load up any music I like, an FM radio AND a flashlight! lol

 

8 years and it keeps on truckin.

[AluminumHaste]

It's very simple.

 

1) AM is very susceptible to electromagnetic interference which these digital devices have in spades. FM can clean this out very easily, but not AM receivers. Ever listen to AM during a lightning storm?

2) There's not enough room in most of these devices for the antenna. Whereas FM can use the headphone cord for an antenna, AM cannot

3) What's the point of including a feature that 99% of your users will not need? It will add cost and most people won't ever use it.

 

Now I personally would use it if it was available as I listen to news and talkshows quite a bit.