talkfreedom

HortonThrockmorton · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:23 pm Post subject: Internet Radios

Has anyone bought or had any experience with these things that you can plug into your broadband connection and listen to streaming audio on a decent sound system instead of a pc?

I'm thinking about buying one, but I'm not up to date on the tech stuff, so I don't want to be buying a betamax.

Summer · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:33 pm Post subject:

I don't really know anything about that, but I do listen to Internet Radio streams on my PC, and I have a Y-shaped wire connector that allows me to plug the audio output from my computer into my home stereo system. Works great.
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Ebon · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:53 pm Post subject:

How simple do you want this? Ignoring the technological limitations, internet radio has one thing in it's favour, it's free to produce. That means that you can find thousands of stations for virtually anything.

Whether that continues depends very much on the progress of net neutrality (politics again). Net neutrality is to do with how much ISP's can charge users. If the ISPs get their way, they'll be able to charge through the nose and most of the "one man and his dog" stations will die a death, leaving only the big commercial stations.

That said, since the commercial stations exist, the chances of you investing in a Betamax here are minimal. The tech business never slows down, the current rapid pace of change is now normal and it's just going to accelerate (something I keep trying to get through to my father) so I can't guarentee that internet radio will always be available but it looks likely.

If you can pick a receiver up for a reasonable price, I'd say go for it.
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