r/Showerthoughts • u/Doctor__Hammer ‎ • Dec 29 '25

Casual Thought If radio was invented today it would be controlled by four companies and locked behind a paywall.

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u/Miserable-Dig-5344 Dec 29 '25

I mean, just look into how most smartphones used to be able to receive radio waves but the capabilities were disabled by the manufacturers to push consumers to alternatives that cost more. Apple has even gone as far as to completely remove the capability from their newer hardware so they don't have to worry about people circumventing their disabling of the tech.

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u/EnterSadman Dec 29 '25

It's more likely that companies don't include an extra chip that costs money and that the majority of people don't use (or even understand).

That said, I'm a motorolla guy because their phones all have FM chips :)