Misc. Ramblings

When I heard about something called high definition radio I said to my self: "Self, they have to be joking." I mean, it's like that commercial for a cleaning product that gives you high definition windows.

But then, I read this Wired article about high definition radio and I saw the error of my ways. There really is such a thing but I've heard it referred to as digital radio.

But as nice as digital radio probably is, the problem with almost any new technology is the chicken and the egg question. Here in Hawaii, we don't have any digital radio stations (on the other hand, we do have chickens and eggs). So, I'm not likely to buy a $250 digital radio. In fact, I won't be buying either one of the satellite radio (XM or Serius) receivers because we don't get either signal out here in the Pacific.

Why don't we have such services? Perhaps two reasons.

I think it's partly the cost. It takes a bunch of money to come here and set something up for a relatively small population (about one million, not including chickens or eggs). But little do these companies know that we are so starved for selection that when almost any new store opens here, it quickly becomes the number one in gross sales across the entire US. Whether it's Krispy Kreme donuts or Costco warehouse, their number one stores in sales, nationwide, are here.

But mostly, I guess, it's because there's no competition. Almost all the radio stations are owned by the same company so why spend money to differentiate yourself from the other guy?