We’ve been going on at length in this space about the death spiral that AM radio seems to be in, particularly in the automotive setting. Car makers have begun the process of phasing AM out of their infotainment systems, ostensibly due to its essential incompatibility with the electronics in newer vehicles, especially EVs. That argument always seemed a little specious to us, since the US has an entire bureaucracy dedicated to making sure everyone works and plays well with each other on the electromagnetic spectrum. The effort to drop AM resulted in pushback from US lawmakers, who threatened legislation to ensure every vehicle has the ability to receive AM broadcasts, on the grounds of its utility in a crisis and that we’ve spent billions ensuring that 80% of the population is within range of an AM station.
The pendulum has now swung back, with a group of tech boosters claiming that an AM mandate would be bad, forcing car manufacturers to “scrap advanced safety features” like “advanced driver-assistance systems, autonomous vehicles, and collision avoidance systems that actually reduce car accidents and fatalities.” That last part is a bit of a reach considering recent research (second item) showing the iffy efficacy of some of these safety features, but the really rich part is when the claim that continuing to support the “outdated technology” of AM radio would prevent engineers from developing “future safety innovations.” Veiled threat much? And pretty disrespectful to the engineering field in general, we have to say, given that at its best, engineering is all about working within const ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
