BY MICHELINA ANDREUCCI
At the beginning of the 21st Century, new technology arrived in the form of direct broadcasting by satellite.For the first time in the history of radio, the listeners who were once invisible, private, and passive are visible participants in the network and are audible, thanks to the social networking.
In 1987 the US Navy experimented with satellite navigation, culminating in the launch of the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation; which by the early 2000s it became so compact that became the “gift for the man with everything” is soon to be a “standard” in vehicles.
By the late 1990s Digital transmissions was being applied to radio broadcasting, by combining radios with computers and connecting themvia satellites to the Internet.
Eventually radios will convert from analogue signals, which are subject to interference and fade, to digital broadcasting. Digital signals that can produce high quality sound unhampered by interference or fading.
Digital radios can be programmed for specific stations; category of music and/or news, etc radios will soon have mini-computers built in to process sounds in numerical patterns “digits” rather than the current analog waveform. This will allow listeners to program their radios for favourite radio stations, music type, stock quotes, traffic information, and much more.
With digital coding, some of the major international radio broadcasters: the BBC, VOA, Radio Deutsche Welle and others, have formed the Digital Radio Mondiale; a consortium successfully developed through the new means of shortwave transmission.
Although the internet is developing fast, radio remains dominant mainly in urban areas; its growth has been retarded by the low level of development of telephone systems, in areas south of the Sahara, excluding South Africa.
“Connected Wi-Fi enabled” will soon be standard in our vehicles; much as Wi-Fi is on planes, ships and trains at present. Although the internet developed rapidly since the start of the 21 st Century, radio remains dominant mainly in rural areas; its potential growth retarded mainly by the low level of development of telephone systems, in the sub-Sahara region, excluding South Africa.
Together with the lounge chairs and occasional tables, the radio has been a part of the furniture in our homes, and grew to be part of our everyday lives; from houses to cars and even bicycles, and even in our ears as we move about; mobile information through the radio is at our command.
Undoubtedly many more changes are still coming; tuning into our radios as we do today may no longer be possible as we get more and more “Wi-Fi connected” and geographic limitations will no longer be restrictive. Listeners will be able to access radio stations on the web and across the country.
Through the decades many scientists and radio enthusiasts and aficionado contributed to its
development, which still continues today. Many patents were registered, lost, exchanged and sold; some of these intrepid men are recognised today, whilst others remain lost in the silence of obscurity. Despite digital media, however, the invention of the simple radio is still with us; its staying power is certain to survive even the onslaught of cyber. As the technology of internet and Wi-Fi evolve, so will most other industries likely alter radio as we know it today, however, in whichever format radio will always be a stage for the mind; a theatre for the blind!
Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher. She is a published author in her field. For comments E-mail:linamanucci@gmail.com
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