Living here in Hanover has its ups and downs. We all love the natural beauty of our surroundings in rural New England (especially when its as beautiful as it has been recently), but sometimes we crave the amenities a place like this lacks.
Those of us that are ex-city dwellers are used to having a world of different things at our fingertips: from every product under the sun to a mind-boggling variety of entertainment possibilities. One of my favorite aspects of living in the city is the wealth of radio stations any given metropolis has to offer.
Cities have radio stations of every genre. What's more, the competition that a city fosters ensures that every genre will have one or two really great stations. Unfortunately, Hanover can provide neither the variety nor the quality that a city can, simply because of its location.
There are good stations, but because there are so few, each has to do too much. Because of the Upper Valley's general homogeneity, not much time (and no individual stations) are devoted to music genres with traditionally non-white audiences, like tejano or hip-hop. However, a craving exists for stations of this type here at Dartmouth.
Luckily, there is a solution.
Recently, new audio-streaming technologies have made real-time live radio broadcast over the World Wide Web a reality. Radio stations all across the country are capitalizing on this technological breakthrough to capture nation-(and indeed world) wide audiences. The best of these sites, in my humble opinion, is AudioNet (www.audionet.com).
AudioNet claims to be the largest audio streaming site on the Internet, and it is hard to argue with them. They offer 260 radio and television stations live. They broadcast thousands of college and professional sporting events live.
They even have 2000 CDs on hand, complete and uncut. They play through live! AudioNet has broadcast the past two Super Bowls, the NCAA Final Four, the Stanley Cup and much more.
All you need to get set up is your trusty computer, your connection to the 'Net and a copy of Real Audio's new streaming software. It's free and only takes a few minutes to download. Once you're all set up, just move through the site at your own pace.
There's so much on AudioNet that it would take quite a while to get through it all. I recommend starting with the radio stations. There's every genre you remember being able to get and a couple you never thought existed, from the sublime (continuous Jimmy Buffett) to the appalling (continuous teen radio).
AudioNet also excels in sports. In fact, it was founded so that people would be able to hear the broadcasts they normally couldn't in their areas. Co-founder Chris Cuban was a self-avowed sports nut who saw a market in the many who crave the sports broadcasts and information they can't get at home.
For instance, yesterday, AudioNet broadcast the entire coverage of the Baltimore Orioles opening day. Transplanted fans across the country or globe could tune into their hometown radio stations to track their hometown teams.
Drawbacks exist, of course. AudioNet requires a fairly speedy computer and Internet connection to work properly. Even with solid equipment, the quality is not perfect. Still, beggars can't be choosers. Right now, AudioNet is the only way to get the variety of original programming that most of us are used to.
The true significance of AudioNet is greater than the sum of its parts. This technology is moving incredibly rapidly. As more people have computers and computers get better and better, we'll soon be able to stream CD-quality sound over the Internet.
For the first time, the World Wide Web is beginning to show evidence of its potential to truly compete with traditional entertainment media. Radio as we know it may fall by the wayside in certain circles as people find the greater variety and quality possible on the Internet.
No one knows if all these grandiose predictions will come true, but if they do, make sure to remember you read it here first.
