Change, change, change...change of fools...



Back to media, and especially broadcast radio, a subject still near and dear to my heart.  For recent followers, I spent over twenty years in radio and still believe it has the potential to be one of the most influential and powerful media for a number of reasons I won't linger on here.  But it could be.  Could be if the keys to today's radio stations were not in the possession of people who apparently have no clue as to the potential of this sound-based medium and what it could still offer.

I was talking today with a friend who has a friend who is a general manager of a group of stations.  That fellow has decades of success and several of his stations were once legendary in the industry.  But, of course, they were purchased by one of the big, publicly-traded corporations that has snatched up hundreds of stations across America.  A company that is especially conscious of the bottom line as it affects their stock price.  So, this GM is now under a dictate that he cannot approve an expenditure over $100 without approval from the home office.

That means the "home office" has a proven manager overseeing properties worth many millions of dollars who cannot even take a couple of local clients to dinner at a nice restaurant without getting permission from HQ...and, I understand, most of those decisions are made by the CEO himself. 

Incidentally, all this "cut our way to success" on the part of these particular "enlightened" broadcasters has resulted in a single-digit stock price, dramatic drop in ratings, and more signs that their method of running radio stations may not be best.

Second bit of news: one of the last successful family-owned radio stations has just been sold.  WABB-FM in Mobile, Alabama, was a rarity, a stand-alone AM/FM in a sizeable market, surrounded by other clusters of stations that are owned by giant conglomerates.  It is another legendary property, managed and programmed creatively so it was able to compete...and compete well...against those other guys.  Its owner, Bernie Dittman, died several years ago, and I don't blame the family for cashing out.  Considering the state of the medium, they are doing the best thing.

It's sad, though, that the outfit that is buying them is a "non-profit" that owns hundreds of stations, programming most of them from a central location.  See, I know Mobile.  I used to own WZEW-FM there.  It is not like any other city in America.  WABB and WZEW sounded like Mobile, not like some other homogenized set of stations.  How could some deejay sitting in Nebraska know how people in Mobile feel during Mardi Gras, or talk about having lunch at Wintzell's Oyster House, describe the full moon on the bay from a pier in Fairhope, or give us the heads-up about the fog this morning on the Causeway?  Or play just the perfect set of songs to match the mood on a rainy morning in the Port City?

Can't and won't.

My friend Ben McWhorter summed up nicely the giant companies who swooped in and bought up every available signal in all sizeable towns and built their "portfolios" of "broadcast clusters."

There is only one word that goes well with "cluster."

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com/
http://www.donkeith.com/

Voices of People...Who Died Over 100 Years Ago

This is an amazing article!  Imagine being able to hear the actual recorded voices of people who died over a hundred years ago.  That is exactly what a cache of wax cylinders recorded by Thomas Edison and associates in the late 19th century enables us to do...thanks to some modern technology.

The voice of Otto Von Bismarck, who died in 1898.  The first known recording of work by Chopin.  Amazing!



Edison's wax cylinder on which he first recorded sound.  Later, he switched to

the flat disc because it was easier to reporduce copies using a mold.  That's how close

many of us came to being "cylinder jockeys" instead of "disk jockeys."





Now that the missing cylinders have been found, audio engineers used a much more modern device, the Archeophone, to read the squiggly indentations in Edison's wax recording medium without destroying them in the process.

It ain't hi-fi, but it is recorded history.

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com/
http://www.donkeith.com/

Never Say "Never"



I did not necessarily vet any of these, and some may simply be "urban legends," but some I know to have actually been uttered by someone who supposedly knew what he was talking about.  Predictions are always chancy.  These were downright dumb, with the benefit of hindsight (a very strong benefit, by the way!):

"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances."


-- Dr. Lee DeForest, "Father of Radio & Grandfather of Television." 1967



"The (atomic) bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosives."

-- Admiral William Leahy , US Atomic Bomb Project 1943



"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom."

-- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923



"Computers in the future may weigh more than 1.5 tons."

-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949



"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943



"I have traveled the length and breadth of his country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."

--The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957



"But what is it good for?"

-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.



"640K (computer memory) ought to be enough for anybody."

-- Bill Gates, 1981



This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us,"--

Western Union internal memo, 1876.



"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"

-- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.



"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible,"

-- Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)



"I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper,"

--Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The

Wind."



"A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make,"

-- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.



"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out,"

-- Decca Recording Co. Rejecting the Beatles, 1962.



"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible,"

-- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.



"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this,"

-- Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.



"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy,"

-- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859.



"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."

-- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University , 1929.



"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value,"

-- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre , France .



"Everything that can be invented has been invented,"

-- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.



"The super computer is technologically impossible. It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required."

-- Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University



"I don't know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn't be a feasible business by itself."

-- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox.



"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."

-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse,1872



"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon,"

-- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.


Predictions about rapidly changing technology seem especially dangerous.  If it is true that technological knowledge doubles every five years, the chances of ending up with egg on one's face is pretty good.  I think I'll just avoid predictions and spend my time and what few brain cells I have left trying to understand what is happening right damn now!

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com/
http://www.donkeith.com/

Hither and yon

Several items recently hit my monitor that are more or less within the realm and scope of this "rapid technology change and especially as it pertains to media" blog.  Among them:

• Just today, mighty, mighty Clear Channel Radio...the world's largest owner of commercial radio stations and the licensee of almost a thousand radio stations in the USA announced that they are taking the word "radio" out of their name.  HUH?  "As part of the ongoing digital and multimedia makeover of the company, Clear Channel Radio is erasing the word 'radio' from its masthead. It will now be known as Clear Channel Media and Entertainment. The company says the core business will remain its 850 radio stations, but the rebranding signals its continued expansion into new areas such as digital, satellite, dashboards and live events," says the news story at INSIDE RADIO.  This comes right on the heels of...
• ...a story in USA TODAY that says, " Beginning this month, YouTube is gambling $100 million that by seeding professional production firms such as Young Hollywood — whose slate of YouTube-only programming premieres Monday — it will draw more eyeballs for longer viewing sessions.
  The story goes on to say: Put simply, the word “television” is being redefined. What once was something produced by a network or cable channel for a screen in the living room is fast becoming anything cobbled together by nearly anyone for a range of devices. This is the culturally revolutionary, highly interactive future YouTube is banking on.
  But none of this should surprise us, considering how the consumer nowadays expects to, well, consume media, as per...
• ...this story on "Marketplace," which ran yesterday on my local NPR affiliate.  It's short, but if you are too busy to listen to it, the gist is that a typical teenager has multiple choices of media in his or her bedroom, and little of it is tied to a radio-frequency transmitter on a mountain...except, of course, that little radio transmitter that offers wifi access from some router somewhere.

We curmudgeons remember when our parents finally relented and allowed us to have a transistor radio in our rooms so we could listen to that evil rock-and-roll.  My kids had TVs and an extension telephone.  Now my grandkids have the world at their fingertips, not just in their rooms but wherever their sweet little selves happen to be.  That transistor in the shirt pocket has become a truly stunning device that not only allows them to experience a wide of range of media easily and cheaply...oftentimes free...but to create it, too. 

Wonder how any homework ever gets done.

Oh, yeah, Wikipedia and Google.  Not "The Book of Knowledge" or "Encyclopedia Brittanica."

And along those lines, did you ever wonder what literary figures from the past would tweet if they had had Twitter accounts and smart phones?  Here is a web site that makes some suggestions.

Enjoy.  And if your kids know who Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn are, they may get a kick out of this, too.  You KNOW they know what Twitter is!

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com/
http://www.donkeith.com/







                          

Creating Creative Creativity

Those of you who regularly see these diatribes know that one area of technological change that I often consider is the kind that directly relates to media.  More and more, people demand the entertainment, information and companionship previously only available in traditional media like newspapers, radio and TV to be delivered on multiple platforms.  nd that comes at a time when the nature of the business of those traditional media is changing dramatically as well.

And you regulars also know I think traditional media has its head firmly up its arse in response to this technological and basic-business revolution.  It pains me.  I'm a radio guy.  I still think radio--however we define it nowadays, and my definition may not be the same as those guys who hold the licenses and own the towers on the mountains--is the most intimate and potentially powerful medium there is.  It can still be intensely personal, stunningly effective as theater-of-the-mind, and about as portable as any delivery mechanism can be.

A recent blog post by researcher Mark Ramsey deals well with the two stories traditional radio broadcasting is telling these days.  One is reactionary and, if I do say so, pathetic.  The other is far less prevalent but it is what broadcasters need to not only heed themselves but preach.  One sentence from Mark's post sums it up nicely:

The more radio attracts engagement across platforms (including the one called “the real world”), the more we take back the time radio alternatives have stolen from us.

There it is.  As long as radio relies on its legacy by saying, "We are in every car dashboard so no other platform is going to hurt us or our advertisers," then the more certain it is that the medium's days are dwindling and it will never be the factor it once was.  But if those who are in a position to take advantage of all the means of providing something its audiences and advertisers need--and doing it by CREATING CREATIVE CREATIVITY--then the medium we have known as "broadcast radio" can be as big or bigger than ever.

It's not just about the technology, though customers will expect all the things they want from media across all available technology.  Broadcasters need to be leading the way in providing their programming that way.  It is about leveraging what radio has, at times in its history, done best.  Entertain.  Inform.  Provide companionship.  Create "tribes" of listeners who are loyal--to the "stations" (think of "stations" as "brands" and not spots on the radio dial and you will be closer to how today's media users see it).  Those listeners/users will also be even more important to the advertisers who desperately crave the ability to efficiently and effectively reach those "tribes" who are targeted potential customers.

Create creative creativity, across all current and future platforms, and you will win.

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.donkeith.com/
http://www.n4kc.com/

This WILL Hook 'Em!

A lot of us who are passionate about the hobby of amateur radio have been wracking our brains, trying to figure out to attract today's younger folks into the hobby.  Our local organization, the Amateur Radio Advancement Group, has this as a major reason for our existence and have some exciting things working in this regard.  But we continue to hear from the naysayers that claim that with Facebook, smart phones, video games, and YouTube, there is no reason for kids to even consider such an archaic hobby as amateur radio.

"Phooey!"  I say.  Granted, it's a different day and time and there are many distractions I did not have way back in '61 when the radio bug bit me so hard.  Heck, we were on a five-family telephone party line and only had three TV channels to watch.  But I am convinced that despite this, there are many, many technically inclined youth out there who would love what today's ham radio has to offer.  And once they find it, they will enjoy it just as much as the rest of us have...and still do.  It can even lead to a career for many of them.  A technical career, and Lord knows, we need as many young Americans following that path as we can get.

And I believe the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national membership organization for ham radio, has finally hit all the right buttons.  Along with some very talented amateur radio ops, the League has just released an 8-minute video that strikes all the right cords.  There is a very vigorous "do it yourself" movement sweeping the country these days, made up of people who enjoy creating things and then using them...to learn, to have fun, to achieve a sense of fulfillment.



Ham radio fits perfectly into that movement on so many levels that it is dizzying.  Watch the video and see if you agree with me.  If you can, show it to a teenager, somebody in his or her 20s, someone who enjoys making things with their hands, regardless the age.  Then watch the light come on!

(Congrats to the ARRL, the producers, and anyone associated with this video!  Very well done, guys.  You can see the video at the link above or by clicking HERE.)

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com/
http://www.donkeith.com/

700K strong...and growing

For a hobby that is dying as a result of the white-hot growth of all other more sexy technology, amateur radio seems to be holding its own.  At least when you look at the latest figures from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  The news that over 700,000 people are now licensed as ham radio ops in the U.S.A. confirms my earlier stated opinion that predictions of the demise of the avocation are seriously misplaced.

Frankly, those who say smart phones, Facebook, and all the social networking are eliminating the appeal of a hobby that got its start with spark gap and Marconi are W R O N G.  They miss the point of our hobby completely.  Yes, I can dial a random number on my Samsung Galaxy and, maybe, get an answer.  But what's my likelihood of striking up a conversation with someone who shares common ground with me?  I can tell folks on Facebook that I just passed mile-marker 100 on I-59, but is it any easier than making the same announcement on the 146.88 repeater in Birmingham?  Will the people be equally unimpressed with the update or not?

First, I didn't build that Samsung device.  Nor did I design and install the antenna it uses.  I had no choice of the mode I used to reach out to the random victim on the other end.  If there was a choice, some computer at the cell site made it...3G or 4G?  When I sit down at my radio desk at home or flip on the multi-band, multi-mode radio in my truck, I have many, many choices I can make, and the result is what kind of experience I am likely to have.  Plus I am employing much more gained knowledge than it would ever take to punch in a number on a phone or click the Facebook link.

I might decide to go after the station in Thailand that the DX cluster says is operating on 21.009 mHz.  That would obviously be on CW, so I turn my rig to that band, frequency and drag the Morse paddle over.  I also know from my propagation maps that I have a chance of hearing him at that time and frequency.  Yep, there he is.  Which antenna do I use?  The big loop I built myself?  The trap vertical I installed in the backyard over a ground radial system I concocted?  The hexbeam I built from scratch?  Do I turn on the amplifier or try to talk with him at a relatively low power of 100 watts?

The hexbeam gives me the best signal received (though the loop is very quiet and I can hear him slightly better above the natural atmospheric noise) so I make a small adjustment in the bearing I'm beaming and decide to try with 100 watts...about the same as a light bulb.  I could do like many do and see if I can reach him with even less power, reveling in the challenge of such a thing.  Next I determine where he is listening by hearing the other stations with which he is conversing, split my transmit and receive frequencies, and begin sending my call letters when he finished up with the other guy.  I smile broadly as he responds to me and tells me "good morning," even though it is afternoon where I am.  He is literally on the other side of the world, see?  We exchange signal reports, chat briefly and finally send polite thanks to each other for the "QSO," and I sit back, contented.

It may be hard for others to understand, but there is no way I could get the same amount of fulfillment and satisfaction by simply dialing a telephone number in Thailand and trying to get someone who answers to talk to me.  Or by randomly "friending" a total stranger on Facebook.  Was it because I use a station I put together myself?  Not built from scratch--though that certainly is an option--but hooked up and put on the air the way I like it.  Was it that I used propagation knowledge that I gained from studying and observing?  That I employed the very efficient Morse code that I learned and have used to the point that I'm pretty good at it?  Was it that the fellow in Thailand and I had common ground and talked about stations, antennas, jobs, and the like?

Yes, it was all that and more.  I could tell you about many, many other fascinating chats I've enjoyed, amazing people I've met, countries I've learned about, all on the radio and not in chat or IM or LinkedIn.  Like the fellow in South Africa with whom I talked for almost an hour the other night.  Or the gentleman in Ireland who is a big NASCAR fan and that I ended up inviting to stay with us if he ever makes it to a race at Talladega as he hopes.  (Think I would have done that with some weirdo who answered my random cell call?)  Or the friends I have from Costa Rica to Wisconsin to the other side of the planet who I run into on the air from time to time and always enjoy conversing with.  Or the fellow on the western coast of Australia who operates by remote control (via the Internet) a station in the U.S. Virgin Islands and is always a source of fascinating conversation.  I could also make a long list of things I have learned, technology I have been introduced to, geography I have had made real and tangible to me, storm-spotting I have heard real-time that DID save lives, all through amateur radio.

That's why our ranks continue to grow...maybe not at the same rate as the general population...to record levels.  When you can do all the things I can do on my ham station on a cell phone or via Facebook, let me know and I'll consider giving up that desk full of gear. 

Meanwhile, I'll just stick with my ancient, out-of-date hobby, thank you very much.

Don Keith N4KC
http://www.n4kc.com/
http://www.donkeith.com/