There's Nothing Like the Radio
You know, there really is no better feeling than hearing that one great song completely out of your control over the radio.
I feel like, as a society, we've really begun to take for granted some of the simplest technologies we have today; the radio, for example. I could talk about radio all day for a completely different reason (link eventually), but I wanted to take a moment to just admire the technology itself and what it has done.
Music
Obviously, the biggest and most important reason is music! Before the advent of the record player, music was actually a pretty niche activity. Most music was listened to live at orchestras, and yes, you had those weird early listening devices in the 1880s, but they were bulky, pricey, uncomfortable, and didn't really catch on.
That's where the radio comes in! In 1920, the first licensed radio station went on the air in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has been playing songs ever since August of that year.
I ran a poll on a Discord community, and 75% of people said they exclusively listen to music through services like Spotify. That's fine, but you all are really missing out on one of the greatest feelings life has to offer.
Communication
Okay, I'm going to try really hard not to talk about Ham here; that one is coming up soon, I promise!
All jokes aside, the greatest thing this technology has truly offered is near-instant communication. Think about it: Pre-1895, the fastest way to get your message from LA to New York was by mail, delivered by some guy on a horse. And, again, yes, they had the telegraph by the 1860s, but that was still inefficient, as you needed either to know Morse code or to find someone who did. But when the radio came around, as long as you understood the language the message was transmitted in, you could get the message immediately!
Conclusion
So, that's all I really had to say about that. Tune in next time!
You really should listen to your local station; it's quite something.
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