Eva writes:
>Well, if I say that I do not count the Internet as ONE place, OK?
When technology spreads it often takes on different guises. Early
experiences with radio show good examples of divergent development paths
if we take the example of three capitalist countries.
In the USA, setting up small local radio stations was the norm, gradually
some of these agglomerated to give us the major TV/Media Corporations,
although in the US there are still local, specialised radio stations to be
found catering for all kinds of diverse and idiosynchratic needs. This
diverse development supported the emrgence of the recording and television
industry, for many of the genres of tv programme we have now have clear
origins in that diverse radio community.
In Australia, radio developed fairly quickly as a person to person medium.
It was not considered strange/unlawful that children should be
radio-operators and utilise radio as part of their education. Such use
lead to developments of radio doctors etc.
In Europe, the state apparatus needed to take much closer control over the
situation (perhaps but not totally because of population density). In the
early pioneering days radio began to develop on a local basis much like in
the USA, with small town community radio stations. However concerns over
use of badwidth and frequencies became a major interest to the military
and civil authorities. Legislation outlawed most uses of the radio by
private citizens. State controlled radio stations were established (eg
BBC), leaving most of the remaining frequencies for "command and control"
purposes. Only "ham" radio was sanctioned on restricted frequencies, and
speech (or morse) was a discussion of radio technology by people who had
passed an examination to be allowed to do so, which contrasted remarkably
with Australia.
What parallels can be drawn with internet technologies remain to be seen,
there is little sign of communitarian radio in Europe (except that odd
flowering of CB communities) but that patterns of diversity arise is the
key issue.
I am told that a satellite digital tv channel can cost less than 100K
dollars a year to run. This does not seem a lot even by African standards.
Martin
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