Car radios, capitalism, and politics.

I oppose solving this with legislation. Though, given the negligeable cost of AM receiver hardware and EMI shielding (a couple bucks for both) and the fact that most cars today already come with so much other useless crap to justify the high profit margin, I have a hard time believing that leaving out AM receivers instead of just shielding them better is a purely financial decision...

 

AM radio rules.

 

And an earlier post of mine was to have gov't update antiquate technology.
And again, not all auto makers got rid of AM radio.

If one really thinks that's an important feature, buy from a maker that still has the feature.

NO on has to buy Satellite radio. IN fact, I ignore request for pay radio.
Why are you for gov't dictating features in companies products?

There's a lot of auto makers on the market.

Everyone who wants access to emergency information can get it by many of the technologies I mentioned.
Including AM radio from the auto makers still offering the feature.

 

But AM radio is not antiquated. It’s the ONLY existing technology that a nationwide emergency information platform can be based on.

So you would advocate for doing away with mandates for auto manufacturers to include seat belts? Let manufacturers decide to put them in vehicles or not? This is the exact same thing.

Maybe you don’t travel much. But I routinely travel through VAST areas where AM radio is the only reliable signal. No cell service for your text. No cellular data for e-mail. No FM radio that lasts more than a few miles and is gone again. Satellite service would be available but as I already pointed out those are subscription services that exclude those who can’t afford them. Also I pointed out many people are without other communications you listed due to where they live or work or recreate. And all your listed communications go away except satellite in many potential emergency situations. AM radio does not.

If you want comparable tech for reliable emergency information provided by AM radio you most certainly have to buy satellite access. It’s the only tech that comes close to what AM radio provides.

I clearly stated it’s optional and only available to those who can afford it. I just asked if you would mandate it since you wish to mandate high speed Internet installation.

All the technologies you listed have government mandates on features.

With your question we have to assume you are against seat belt mandates on manufacturers. Side impact vehicle ratings. Emissions standards. Automobile glass specifications. Tire quality standards.

It’s an interesting position to take.

Yep. And all have to include seat belts.

Nope. Not in places without cellular service or fiber or landline phone etc. And in a disaster situation those other technologies cease to exist except for satellite coverage which very few people have access to and must pay for.

Some trivia. The automobile predates AM radio by about 140 years. Both have become more efficient, but the automobile is just as antiquated or more so than AM radio.

I’m posting right now from an area where Internet access is so spotty I can’t post except on the top of a hill. I’m 8 miles from the cell tower. My satellite coverage running my auto steer is far more reliable. But if I were in the field across the road next to a shelter belt my GPS signal would be spotty. There is clear AM radio signal from the “local” station everywhere. And that station covers the whole state and large portions of neighboring states. It is one of the EMS stations my earlier link referred to.

 

It's antiquated to the point that the average listener is 57 yrs old. And that age will likely increase instead of decrease.

Personally I was never for them. Are they a great idea, absolutely. The reason they are required, I believe, is the insurance industry wanted them mandated to save on claim cost.
Again, if a automaker took them out, how many vehicles do you think they would sell. In today's world, most consumers will want them and if taken out, the automaker would likely lose business.

I travel 30 minutes 1 way every work day and have for several years. Also go on vacations in a vehicle. I already posted in this thread I use AM radio maybe on average for 1 or 2 hrs a year. Mostly to hear some sports broadcast I can't get on FM due to location and signal.

Like any of it, AM radio is only effective to those who actually listen to it. Most under 50 don't ever listen to it.

Yes they can, as I said. If AM radio is an important feature, you buy from an automaker that has that feature.

 

The average age of the people who grow your food is about 60. Food production isn’t antiquated.

So you don’t like seatbelts. What about those tires? You wish manufacturers could put any quality tire they choose on vehicles? No emissions controls? Leave it all up to the manufacturer and the market? Except for high speed Internet. Force installation of that. But let the market decide everything else.

This has NOTHING to do with how much you or anyone else listens to AM radio today. It’s an essential part of the US emergency information dissemination system. The only technology that can fill the need it fills.

Absolutely not. If you are in your car in CA when the big one hits and all the bridges and overpasses are down and you are stuck on the freeway, AM radio is likely to be the ONLY way you can get up to date information immediately. If you are stuck in a blizzard in your car in many places in Wyoming, AM radio most likely will be the ONLY way you will get weather information.

This mandate has nothing to do with how much anyone likes AM regular programming. It’s like mandated 911 addresses etc. It’s purely and simply an emergency/safety tool that as of yet has NO replacement.

Not if the emergency has already happened and you have no other way of getting needed information. Then it’s too late. It’s like calling about buying home insurance the day after it burned down. And the excuse of “I never use fire insurance” when asked why you didn’t want fire insurance before the fire won’t help either.

To be clear, I agree with you that too many things are mandated. But this one has the same logic behind it as 911 service mandates or other mandated vehicle safety features. It’s just a safety and national security feature.

 

You want gov't intrusions, I perfer to not have so many gov't intrusions.
We'll just leave it at that.

Safety of the public is a concern for public. Most laws like seatbelts, etc are there because the insurance industry wanted them.

Broadcasting on AM does not reach the most people. As most people don't listen to AM. It will reach a segment of people who just happen to be in their cars listening to it.
And if a mfg excludes the feature, one just buy a different brand that includes it if they want it.

 

There is a fairly good sized area spanning western Virginia and eastern West Virginia (and maybe a slip of Maryland) where AM and some scattered low watt FM is about the only radio you are going to hear. Has something to do with some big national security/spying antennae array in the area. Think it is called the National Radio Quiet Zone or something like that. I just know when I went to a ski resort in that area, Christian singing/preaching/pontificating AM stations were pretty much the only thing I could pick up on the radio for about 100 miles of the trip.

 

SMH.

This has nothing to do with how much time you or anyone else listens to AM radio today. It’s to maintain the national emergency communications system set up to reach as many people as possible if/when a disaster or national emergency occurs. And so people stranded in vehicles with no other form of communication can get weather information etc.

There is NO other technology that allows the vast majority of the population immediate access to up-to-date information in disaster scenarios.

When you are in your car and the ground shakes the FM goes to static and your cell signal disappears, you know something is up. If you care about knowing what’s up you tune to the closest AM station that is part of the Emergency Alert System run by FEMA, the FCC, and NOAA.

I’m not a fan of government intrusion either. But this one at least has some relevance to the actual role of government. It’s based on safety and national security, not how much you dislike AM radio.

 

If people are tuned in, they won't receive the AM alert. SMH.

I don't dislike AM raido. It's just not very good. Bad quality.

 

So people can't choose to buy cars with an AM radio or Cars that aren't electric...I think I will disagree with your analysis.

 

If it weren't for progressivism, you'd still be riding a horse and buggy.

 

Wait and see what guys like Bill Gates, Al Gore, John Kerry and Mark Zuckerberg have planned for you. They might not be able to get to their measures through Congress, but they will use bureaucratic decrees to get what they want. The Biden puppet has already laid out emissions standards that are designed to kill the small trucking industry. Biden has little realization of the consequences of what he is doing. He just signs the papers, which makes him the ideal woke president.

Of course none it will apply to them. They will continue to fly around in their private jets and chauffeur driven limousines

Bill Gates is using his wealth to buy up American farm land. If you think he wants to be “farmer Bill,” you are sorely mistaken. He is looking to dictate the American diet to those who are less fortunate than he is. Get ready for a diet of artificial meat and insects if he gets his way.

 

You should throw you hat in the ring for presidency.

Bill Gates, a private business man. Doing capitalism. And that is upsetting to you?
Didn't he already kill off humanity with his hand in the pandemic?

Hope you aren't using a computer or laptop to post here. Because Bill Gates likely designed the operating system. Your computer might kill you.

 

When your power and cell signal go out that is the ALERT! When you are stuck in a snowdrift in Wyoming with no cell service that is your ALERT. This isn’t to tell you there is a problem. It’s to communicate with you when the problem is so big no other technology can be of assistance. This isn’t complicated.

There were some pretty good stereo AM technologies but the market couldn’t decide which to pick. And the FCC wouldn’t pick one either. So they all went away.

I’m with you on mandates. I wish the public was concerned enough about being prepared for emergencies the government didn’t feel the need to be concerned for them. I wish auto manufacturers were concerned enough about their customers they would want drivers to have access to the Emergency Alert System. Unfortunately that’s not the world we live in and government is going to step in with agencies like FEMA etc. to help people who don’t prepare themselves. This is just part of that support system.

 

Musk is making car's to silence caonservatives?

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/e...epublicans-agree-am-should-go-in-evs-5c8e5939

"“I would think that if Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send rockets to space, he can afford to include AM radio in his Teslas,” Gottheimer said in a statement, referring to the Tesla CEO who also leads SpaceX. “Instead, Elon Musk and Tesla and other car manufacturers are putting public safety and emergency response at risk.”"