Tech News and Commentary

Dave and the team discuss a Netflix documentary, long term immunity to the coronavirus, Google searches from "anxiety" during the coronavirus pandemic, Bill Gates jealousy, Microsoft's Flight Simulator, xand more.

Our guest this hour:

Dr. David Greenfield , Advisor to Circle and Founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, Circle

Bob in Worcester, Massachusetts listens online and asked: "The receiver that I've been using for the last 20 years finally died. So I went down to the store and bought a new one. When I got it home, I found out there was no AM, it was FM only. My question is, do you think AM radio is dead, or was the manufacturer just trying to save costs?"

https://www.intotomorrow.com/media/podcasts/2020/08-28-2020/08-28-2020-H2S1.mp3

Bob, this sounds like a case of cost saving.

AM and FM radio have both been changing to meet the times, so as more people shift to streaming their music from phones or smart speakers, FM has taken to simulcasting AM talk shows.

There are some obvious advantages there, FM sounds better, but AM still wins in other ways like range.

AM still has a large and dedicated audience, so it does seem very early to be trying to take out of devices. Sometimes though, these cheaper devices are marketed to people who dont really care. For example, brands like Vizio have been making displays without TV tuners for years. TV is not dead, though. But some people dont use or need the TV tuner and would rather pay slightly less and just not have it.

Depending on the type of receiver you got the reason may be simple, for example, FM chips can be embedded into the same chips that manage WiFi signals, so if you bought a receiver that is WiFi-capable FM probably came for free, and AM wouldve cost them extra hardware.

Jackie in Erie, Pennsylvania listens on "Money Radio" WPSE and asked: "We are a veterinary hospital and we are interested in recording all of our phone calls for client communications for review and training purposes. Our current telephone provider says they don't offer this service. Just wondering how we would accomplish this. Do we need to change our service vendor, or is there some sort of product we can attach to our phones?"

https://www.intotomorrow.com/media/podcasts/2020/08-28-2020/08-28-2020-H2S2.mp3

We shared the expert answer provided by our friend Rick Ewart from IsleCall Communications who handle all of the communications needs for our offices and studio.

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