The local public-radio outlet (Colorado Public Radio) recently moved
its classical-music channel to a different FM frequency so that it
could move its all-talk, all-the-time frequency from the AM band. Now
the classical-music channel, with much reduced power, barely gets out
of the city limits, much less 30 miles away to my radio.
Public radio told everyone who couldn't hear the station to buy an
HD radio for the
home and the car.
Those who did buy HD radios immediately complained that they still
couldn't hear the station. So far, public radio hasn't shown any
interest in installing a translator frequency, even though it already
has several in other parts of the state. I started investigating
Internet radio receivers - but immediately stopped after seeing prices
of $200 and up.
At this point, I woke up in a bright new world and remembered that
a) I had an indigo iMac
G3 collecting dust and cobwebs in my basement and b) iTunes
accesses radio stations through the Internet.
The iMac had OS 9 installed. I updated the firmware and installed
Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther". After more than two hours with the
Software Update panel, the iMac was smoothly running version 10.3.9
with 320 MB of memory. (The maximum memory is 1 GB.)
The iMac was ready for a visit to iTunes.
Opening iTunes and clicking on the radio icon displays a plethora of
music genres from radio stations. Clicking on the classical icon
revealed 52 streams, ranging from the expected war horses to
all-baroque and all-opera choices.
I started my playlist with WQXR.com (New York City) and WGBH (Boston). The variety of
music was so much greater. I heard music I wasn't aware of. (The local
outlet does have an Internet stream, but the music selection is focused
on the classical top 40.)
Later, I added Minnesota Public Radio and
WCPE (North Carolina)
from the iTunes list. Importing other stations from their web pages
(WFMT in Chicago and WCLV in Cleveland, for example) was a simple
process. In my spare time, I'll be checking the other streams listed in
iTunes.
While audiophiles might loudly complain about the sound quality from
a G3 iMac, I'm again enjoying having music in my bungalow. Maybe I can
find some low-end speakers for the G3. I have a few dollars that won't
be going to the local public radio outlet during its next
beg-a-thon.
Gordon R. Brown has used Macs for more than 20
years. He is a property technician for a Denver-area police
department.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
