RapidcreekAutomakers Want AM Radios Out of Cars. Congress Is About to Require Them
An AM radio can be put together for pennies. I’ve gotten them as giveaway swag before. This is the stupidest controversy. You could give everyone in America an AM radio for the cost of this lawsuit and they could just stick it in their car with the stereo jack.
I take no position on this. Seems to me the cost should be negligible if there are forced to include them and the harm will be negligible if they are removed.
My guess is this has been made a big deal by right wing media who see it as a threat to their ability to reach imbeciles listeners and this would be a footnote otherwise.
That being said, having an EBS receiver in cars isn’t a bad thing. Cell networks are unreliable in emergencies. Cell phones didn’t work for days after 9/11. Not that car radios would be particularly helpful in NYC with super low car ownership.
RubberDuckNo, AM radio is part of the infrastructure governments can reliably use to inform citizens of danger etc. so it should not easily be removed. And if it’s so cheap it can easily be included.
I agree with you. I just think the reason the discussion is so loud is because of right wing AM radio and the people who would love for it to go away - people I don’t even disagree with, but it is importance and so cheap that any argument over cost is entirely misplaced. You can get AM radio on an IC for $0.41 in quantity. It feels disingenuous to argue against that on a basis of cost or “muh freedoms”. Hence, my suspicion of a more political basis.
Oh I’ll bet you are right on the money with the motivations.
But also don’t discount the possibility that car manufacturers are in on the long game… just remove radio all together so you can offer optional packages only. The reason their entertainment systems need to be reasonably priced is because else the customer will stick to just radio then.
If they remove the alternative… sky is the limit for the options… Cause no entertainment in a car is not an option for most. Peak Enshittification