Sunday, August 01, 2010

My new DAB radio & the joy of other peoples' choices



I recently bought a DAB radio. I've been considering one for a while and was intrigued by the thought of something small and portable. I picked up the Philips AES200 without any research. I wanted a wee Pure radio but their need for a separate proprietary battery pack instead of some AAs didn't grab me.

What I was after was something small and portable... and the AES200 is certainly that. It sounds fab too. I think it may be battery hungry but I am looking forward to taking it outside... in the garden or in the park.

I love 6music ... JazzFM ... Classical ... Radio2 ... and some rock channel whose name escapes me. The music has been tremendous... varied with depth. Too many good tunes to name. Not necessarily the same kind of music on my iPhone ... where awesome indie tuneage from bandcamp and netlabels reside ... but all good nonetheless.

The other thing that I love is the fact that someone else is making the selection. Sometimes I can't decide what to listen to. iTunes. Spotify. Bandcamp. They are all based on my personal choice ... and I wouldn't have it any other way ... but it's good to let someone else drive now and again.

This afternoon Huey from Fun Lovin' Criminals had Stevie Wonder and ZZTop in his selection. I had Stevie's song but didn't have the ZZTop track. I would have probably ignored the track as irrelevant if it was presented to me as a choice.

Hearing someone else's choices helps me to discover new things. A good radio show is like a good blog or a good magazine in this fact ... they add value by introducing the new or the fantastic. What's more ... I love the fact my DAB radio shows the track details as it plays. This aids in my discover. You don't need to pull out "sound hound" everytime you hear something you like.

Yes ... I could use my iPhone or my MacBook Pro to listen to the radio but that's not the point. This is something I can put on in my kitchen or bedroom and forget about it. It's success for me is in it's singular purpose. It does one thing and does it well. So yeah ... that's me.

I love me some radio and my DAB has reinforced this like a second honeymoon.

Tx

1 comment:

Angus Mathie said...

Didn't get playing the Radio today but I spotted it and will listen in soon. Agreed with comments.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails