17.12, Friday 26 Sep 2003

Five (well, six) applications that bleed together radio/audio/new media (in alphabetical order):

  • iRate radio "is a collaborative filtering client/server mp3 player/downloader. The iRATE server has a large database of music. You rate the tracks and it uses your ratings and other people's to guess what you'll like. The tracks are downloaded from websites which allow free and legal downloads of their music". See also City of Sound on iRate, and an interview with the creator.
  • The Radio Program Recorder (RPR) is a portable AM/FM radio with a timer to record shows, and an FM transmitter to rebroadcast shows to your local radio. It also has a USB interface to transfer audio to your computer.
  • RadioSHARK is a Mac OS X-only FM/AM radio in hardware, that connects by USB. It includes software to record shows and pause live broadcasts.
  • Replay Radio [via Scripting News] records internet streams of radio to MP3. Includes scheduling and burning audio CDs. Like Audio Hijack Pro (for Mac OS X) but more focussed on radio.
  • Shazam is a mobile phone app: dial 2580 and point your phone at loud music, receive the track name by text seconds later.

So what are the consequences when this kind of functionality is commonplace? (Oh, and see Dan Hill and Chris Heathcote on wireless, pervasive music sharing. The walkman supersense.)