Globe editorial calls FM radio "outdated technology"

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:05:10 -0400, "Mark Casey" <map@mapinternet.com> said:

> If the cellphone has an FM radio already, that's fine, I'd use it. But to 
> legislate it, is too much. If they want to require FM, why not add AM also. 
> (Maybe the AM chip is too $$?)

No, the problem is that you can't get decent AM reception with the
sort of RF that's flying about inside a cell phone, putting in the
necessary shielding would make the phone much larger and heavier, and
in any case there's nowhere to put a proper antenna.  You could put a
receiver chip in, but the results would inevitably be unsatisfactory,
and the manufacturers feel (rightly) that the complaints would cost
more than they could possibly gain from the (nonexistent) market for
cell phones with built-in AM radios.

-GAWollman