the radio: a discarded toy.

People need people to survive. It's just life. Sadly, the more high-def technologies that are created and sold on a mass-marketed scale to everyone's living room, the farther people actually get from each other. When Lee de Forest came upon his invention of the radio, his intention was for it to be a communal invention: everyone has one in their living room, gather around it, and listen in to their favorite story.

No one does this anymore. When radio was new and exciting, it was regulated by the government in order to limit the amount of 'traffic' amongst radio stations- in other words, you needed to have a legitimate program in order to air. Now, with the deregulation of radio, it's getting easier and easier to own something on the radio. According to The Daily Whim (http://photodude.com/2003/05/29/20-years-of-radio-deregulation), there was a magic '7-7-7' rule; one person could only own 7 AM, FM, and TV broadcasts. This number has increased until it simply became 'anyone is allowed to have as many stations as they want'.

However, as the article says, this is not plausible. Radio is not some toy to be played with- it is a powerful tool to reach the community and deliver information, stories, or music. There are only so many frequencies. As it is, there are too many DJs on the radio that play their own mix, or some early-morning coffee jockeys. Radio should absolutely be regulated more- it is stagnating. It used to be so much more communal, whereas nowadays no one listens to the radio with other people; only in the car by themselves or while at work.

I say bring back the radio.