The Simple things - radio?

There is a lot of talk about this being the digital generation. I'm not so sure. I think that the generation that grew up in the 80's is the real digital generation - they built the thing - the current group only consumes it. But that is a topic for another blog. I want to talk about the importance of analog media.

Like radio...

...and I am not talking about internet radio, or satellite radio or HD Radio. Just plain old Marconi radio.

I did 2 things recently that relate to that. I wanted to listen to the radio on my big stereo, and I wanted to listen to radio in the dining area and kitchen where I occasionally work. So I went to Radio Shack and bought one of their radio/TV antennas and attached it to the home stereo. It sounds pretty good! I can even pick up the local commercial classical music station that is rather weak. But the really impressive occurrence is that my kids have started listening to the radio stations and discovering new music.

Now my kids mostly listen to CDs/MP3s, or their Mp3 Player, or Internet radio or even tunes on YouTube, but this was new for them again and somewhat exciting.

You would have thought that we had gotten cable, the way they spent time in the family room. The only thing that they complained about is the number of commercials. Who doesn't? Except for listening to NPR, I guess commercials are the norm. But they have discovered music and groups that they never would have heard.

The other thing I did was buy one of those table radios from Cambridge Soundworks. It sounds really good, has a decent antenna, and even has a little remote. Not sure if it sounds better than Bose, but it does the trick for a lot less. Again, it is great to listen to music while I work, and we even have a little nice music while we eat dinner.

All in all, adding music to the home environment has been a pleasant improvement to the TV, or kids walking around with phones on their ears or whatever.

I recommend trying to add some nice music to your environment and seeing what happens.

Let me know your experiences.