Apr
9
Written by:
4/9/2009 6:11 AM
David Pogue, the funny, theatrical "Circuits" columnist for the New York Times, turned his observant and humorous eye toward HD Radio this week.
("How do you make an HD Radio executive bang his head against the wall," Pogue asks rhetorically. "Ask him, 'What's HD Radio?'")
We're hearing from outsiders who read the column that he did a good job synthesizing the issues, pro and con. Certainly Pogue's supportive tone is one of the most positive pieces we've seen in national media of late.
He also sees the digital signal acquisition as a selling point: "You notice the difference instantly if you hear the before-and-after versions of the same channel — in the online demo at hdradio.com, for example. That’s also why the Polk radio’s design is so clever: when it tunes into an HD radio station, it first plays a couple of seconds of the regular station before kicking into HD. That way, you keep saying, 'Wow, what a difference! Sure glad I bought that radio!'"
Well worth a
read.
1 comment(s) so far...
Pogue Turns His Attention to HD Radio
Of course, David didn't realize that the delayed switch to HD is part of the spec, but interesting to see his take on it as a positive opportunity for listener comparison.
However, I also reviewed the comments to the piece at the Times website, and of the 40+ that had been posted, only ONE comment was positive about HD Radio. Most of the others were mildly to vehemently negative about it, for a variety of well informed reasons. Seems like HD Radio's lack of traction may now be due less to passive lack of awareness than it is to active rejection by consumers.
By Skip Pizzi on
4/9/2009 8:09 AM
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