Radio's Downward Spiral

In this article, the author describes how Europe is fazing out AM radio. Radio isn’t what it used to be back in the beginning of the 20th century. Before televisions became a fixture in the United States, people used to listen to radio not only as their source of information, but entertainment too. Just like Ralphie in “A Christmas Story”, kids waited anxiously to listen to their favorite program on the radio. But now with the constant advances in technology, less and less people are listening to radio. Many opt for plugging in i-pods or listening to CDs in the car to avoid commercials and the amount of advertising radio stations are getting is dropping.
While the bad economy is probably partially to blame for the declining ad sales, the fact is that radio is becoming obsolete. More and more programs are moving over to digital radio technologies like Sirius and XM which can be heard all over the country and sound clearer. Many inventions have taken the need of radio away like podcasts and the fact that you can listen to radio online. More and more different elements of technology are being put together for the convenience of the user. An example of this would be the i-phone that features the phone abilities, internet access, your i-tunes library, and various other options. Consumers are getting more and more used to having everything they could ask for compiled into one gadget, and the fact that radio doesn’t really fit into the equation is a problem.