{"id":312,"date":"2004-08-24T07:21:26","date_gmt":"2004-08-24T11:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vmalt\/?p=312"},"modified":"2006-02-07T07:28:06","modified_gmt":"2006-02-07T12:28:06","slug":"i-was-seriously-thinking-about-hiding-the-receiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/i-was-seriously-thinking-about-hiding-the-receiver","title":{"rendered":"I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

Article in Forbes<\/em> about the artificial hurdles that satellite radio faces<\/a>. Seems that the National Association of Broadcasters actually argues, in front of Congress, that competition would be bad for radio. The NAB also has a history of messing with innovation and stifling consumer choice:<\/p>\n

In 1945 many AM incumbents, ostensibly concerned that interference related to sunspots might endanger their rivals in FM, encouraged the feds to uproot the FM dial and move it to a higher frequency band. This rendered half a million FM radios useless and forced the nation’s FM stations to start over. A congressional investigation in 1948 found that the interference fears were bogus and that a Federal Communications Commission report had been conveniently altered to disguise that fact. Too late–the shift helped inferior AM technology remain dominant for the next 25 years. The coda: In 1954 the inventor of FM radio, Edwin Armstrong, frustrated by repeated setbacks and all but bankrupt, penned a suicide note to his wife and leapt out the window of his 13th-floor apartment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article in Forbes about the artificial hurdles that satellite radio faces. Seems that the National Association of Broadcasters actually argues, in front of Congress, that competition would be bad for radio. The NAB also has a history of messing with innovation and stifling consumer choice: In 1945 many AM incumbents, ostensibly concerned that interference related … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver . . .”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-52","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13104,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/covid-check-in-with-michael-tisserand","url_meta":{"origin":312,"position":0},"title":"COVID Check-In with Michael Tisserand","author":"Gil","date":"April 8, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show COVID Check-In: Michael Tisserand \"Normal is just a Martin Mull album.\" Author Michael Tisserand checks in from New Orleans. We talk about how his wife (a pediatrician) got through her recent bout with COVID-19, how the city has had to change its traditions and practices even when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classic Comics Criticism"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Comics Criticism","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/classic-comics-criticism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidtisserandcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C491&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidtisserandcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C491&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidtisserandcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C491&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidtisserandcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C491&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/covidtisserandcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C491&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/cubs-fallout","url_meta":{"origin":312,"position":1},"title":"Cubs Fallout","author":"Gil","date":"October 15, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Several of my friends have written me this morning about the Cubs' insane collapse last night. I avoided mentioning the fan who tried to catch a foul ball and ended up interfering with Moises Alou's catch. Had Alou caught the ball, there would've been two outs on the Marlins. That's\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10115,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-199-michael-tisserand","url_meta":{"origin":312,"position":2},"title":"Episode 199 – Michael Tisserand","author":"Gil","date":"January 2, 2017","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show #199: Michael Tisserand \"I always feel like Herriman's a a step ahead of me. When I read Krazy Kat I think I know what I'm reading; the next week I read the same strip and I realize I'm reading something different than I thought I was reading.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/ignatz.gif?fit=460%2C279&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/standing-offer","url_meta":{"origin":312,"position":3},"title":"Standing Offer","author":"Gil","date":"October 20, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Over at Slate, Jack Shafer and Mickey Kaus both have pretty good takes on the debacle of Easterbrook's strange Kill Bill blog. Kaus also links to about 10 million other blogs that discuss (or mindlessly rant about) Easterbrook's entry and subsequent apology.Funnily enough, Shafer actually had the exact same reaction\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1678,"url":"https:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/radio-silence","url_meta":{"origin":312,"position":4},"title":"Radio Silence","author":"Gil","date":"September 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I know it sounds like I'm always under a huge pile of work, dear readers, but this time I mean it. 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