The use of radios in our culture has changed greatly over the years. When it was first introduced it lacked actual sound and was called the wireless telegraph. This device was a way to send simple messages over long distances, which would then have to be decoded by the receiver. The type of radio that we use today is very different. Radio has evolved into using live sound to give listeners various types of programming to choose from.
While radio has fallen out of favor among many people recently, almost every single car on the road has one. AM/FM radio is still free and offers music and talks shows every day, any time you want to listen. Satellite radio and HD radio have joined the broadcast game and offer higher quality sound and many more channels than standard radio. However, you have to pay to play and listeners have to pay a fee in order to use this premium radio service. The top selling point of AM/FM radio is that it is free to listen to if you own a receiver, which is usually very cheap to purchase. Whichever way you want to listen to radio, your entertainment options are very diverse.
Whether you are sitting in your car, cleaning the house or just hanging out in the backyard, you can enjoy listening to the radio almost anywhere. The roots of radio were sending information over long distances and today we still use it for that as well as entertainment. It is amazing to think how far radio has come and that it is still useful despite all the other options available. Other forms of radio, the internet, portable music devices and television have tried their best to leave radio in their dust, but it has not worked. The simplicity of it is what makes it continually useful.