The TechMobility Podcast
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The TechMobility Podcast
Mercedes' Solar Paint Revolution, AI in Humans Out, Made in America, Secret Radio Stations
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Revolutionary solar paint technology from Mercedes could transform how we power our vehicles. This breakthrough innovation promises to deliver enough energy annually to drive nearly 8,700 miles without plugging in—eliminating range anxiety and potentially reshaping the entire EV landscape. With current photovoltaic cells functioning at just 20% efficiency, future improvements could push this technology to power 15,000, 20,000, or even 30,000 miles annually. Imagine never needing to search for a charging station or worry about electricity costs.
Meanwhile, Duolingo has become the first major company to announce explicit plans to replace current contract workers with artificial intelligence. This marks a disturbing shift from companies merely slowing future hiring to actively eliminating existing positions. When Duolingo's CEO states that "making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won't get us there," alarm bells should ring. Without federal guidelines limiting AI implementation, how many middle-class knowledge workers—people who invested years in education and training—will find themselves replaced? And when AI eliminates too many jobs, who remains to purchase the products and services these streamlined companies offer?
Beyond cutting-edge technology, America harbors remarkable communication systems that have quietly served communities for decades. Since 1969, specialized radio reading services have broadcast newspapers, magazines, and books to visually impaired listeners nationwide. Operating via FM subcarriers through public radio and TV stations, these volunteer-staffed services read everything from front-page news to grocery advertisements, providing critical information access particularly for older Americans unfamiliar with screen readers. Today, approximately 79 such services continue this vital work, adapting to streaming technology while maintaining traditional broadcasts for rural communities with limited internet access.
Join us as we explore these fascinating intersections of innovation, ethics, and accessibility. From solar-powered vehicles that promise unmatched freedom to the concerning pace of AI workforce replacement to hidden broadcast services keeping Americans connected, the technological landscape continues to both inspire and challenge us. Have thoughts on these developments? Call our TechMobility hotline at 872-222-9793 or email talk@techmobilityshow.
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Welcome to the TechMobility Podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester On the agenda dual lingo to replace contract workers with AI, the logistics of Made in America and secret radio stations. To add your voice to the conversation, be it to ask a question, share an opinion or suggest an idea for future discussion, call or text the TechMobility hotline, that number, 872-222-9793, or you can email the show directly. Talk at techmobilityshow. Be sure to subscribe, like and follow us on social media our YouTube channel and our two podcasts, the Tech Mobility Podcast and Tech Mobility Topics. You can also find me on Substack as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative and you can reach me there at Ken C Iowa. So that's Ken, the letter C and Iowa spelled out I-O-W-A From the TechMobility News Desk.
Speaker 2:What if I told you that an automaker has developed a paint, a paint that can absorb solar energy and turn it into electricity? What would you say to that? This article comes from one of the automotive pieces that I subscribe to and it says, and I quote Mercedes solar paint could give EVs thousands of miles of range. Every year we talked about hydrogen, We've talked about fuel cells, We've talked about the challenges of EV batteries and up to recently, we've kind of nibbled at the edges of solar panels on cars and up till now, solar panels gave incremental power, but not so much that it would even be a game changer, not so much that it would extend the range, kind of just enough to maybe power some auxiliary like a heater or a radio or something like that from time to time, but nothing really earth shattering till now. Mercedes is working on a solar paintwork that can give EVs thousands of miles of range annually. Known as solar paintwork, the company is researching new types of solar modules that can be seamlessly applied to the bodies of electric vehicles. These efforts could eventually pave the way for a wafer-thin layer of paint that could generate enough electricity to cover 8,699 miles per year. Think about that, I want that to sink in year. Think about that, I want that to sink in.
Speaker 2:For many years it was considered that the average amount of mileage the car traveled used to be was 12,000 miles. Today we consider average mileage over a course of a year and the key word there is average to be 15,000 miles, to be 15,000 miles. Mercedes is coming with a plan and a product that will give you almost half that mileage in solar energy, meaning you wouldn't have to, theoretically, if you were doing average mileage, you wouldn't have to plug the thing in, but maybe half the time, and if you were out, all you had to do was park the thing, you wouldn't have to be as worried about finding a public charger at all and it wouldn't matter where you were, because if you're getting that kind of mileage, even though it's maybe 10, 20 miles a day, that could very well make the difference to you getting someplace. If you had to go, If you forgot to plug it in or whatever. Sunny day boy, park it out there, Get that juice and, like any technology, you can count on this technology to get better and better. If Mercedes can take it from literally incremental and when I mean incremental I meant like maybe 20 miles a year to over to this kind of mileage to over 8,700, almost 8,700 miles a year. What's to say that in three years, five years, ten years and I don't believe it would take that long that continued working on it doubles the range We've seen.
Speaker 2:Batteries continue, battery packs continue to increase range, increase range, increase range. For comparison's sake, bear in mind when the Nissan Leaf first came to the market 2009,2010, it had a range of 98 miles. 98 miles, that's it 98. Today, the most efficient vehicle, the EV that you can buy in the United States of America is the Lucid Air, and it will give you 520 miles out of its battery pack between charges. And it's not the only one Tesla Model S, the brand new Chevy Silverado EV in a work truck configuration will give you 450 miles A truck right now for sale. You could buy one today with that kind of range right now. So what's to say that this solar, quote-unquote paintwork that Mercedes is developing that gives you almost 8,700 miles a year wouldn't be 15,000 in two to three years, 24,000 within 10 years, heck, maybe even 30,000 miles. And at that range, Imagine an EV that you don't need gasoline at all because it's not a hybrid, you don't need hydrogen at all because it's not a fuel cell, that you can get typical mileage and in fact double typical mileage From the sun.
Speaker 2:Let that sink in At the speed that technology is moving right now EV batteries, battery chemistries, changing out rare earth metals in battery configurations with cheaper, more stable, less flammable alternatives. This is happening right now, in real time. If you recall to take you back maybe six months or more we talked about Toyota's EV plans. Toyota, in the next two years, is expecting to have a battery pack that will go 600 miles. They said between now and the end of the decade they expect to have a battery pack that will go 600 miles. They said between now and the end of the decade they expect to have a battery pack that will go 1,000 miles between charges.
Speaker 2:So is it so far-fetched that solar technology, solar charging technology, you know, photovoltaic cells would not get that much more efficient, because right now the average cell has a 30% efficiency. Imagine if they increased it to 50%, 60% efficiency. What kind of range would you have Then? What does that do for vehicle propulsion? You don't need to ever charge it. Then what does that do for vehicle propulsion? You don't need to ever charge it. You don't need gasoline for a hybrid, you don't need a network to plug it in. You talk about freedom, ultimate, freedom, ultimate. This is the beginning, which is why I'm making a big deal about it, Because if they can get this, they can double it. If they can double it, they can double it again.
Speaker 2:Computers used to have something called Moore's Law, which meant the speed of these computers would double every 18 months, and for many years that was true. We're seeing something else right now in the EV battery and EV propulsion industry, with materials and equipment and power getting more and more efficient, less and less cost. And I told you this would happen, because I told you that once traditional automobile manufacturing companies scale up in the EV segment, that they would wring out costs, they would get rid of expensive parts like lithium, cobalt, manganese would go away and they would come up with more stable, lower cost, longer duration solutions on the way to EV power, and this Mercedes solar paintwork is one such solution. We're not even talking about ammonia or other non-carbon-based fuels, synthetic fuels, e-fuels We've talked about that in the past. There's a lot of things on the table here.
Speaker 2:I wanted to share this with you and I need to correct this. The article says, in Mercedes' case, they are looking at an active photovoltaic surface with solar cells that have an efficiency rating of 20%. They are expecting to get this with 20% efficiency. What if they were able to double the efficiency of the cells? That puts you at 15,000 miles, 16,000 miles. What if they were able to improve it yet again, and I'm figuring that would be five to 10 years? Would it be unreasonable to think that 30,000 miles out of photovoltaic cells on a car would be unreasonable. We didn't even think this was possible, but here we are. Here we are. It is an exciting time to be in the car business. It started. A company is replacing workers with AI. We have the details. Next you are listening to the Tech Mobility Show.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the main place to be these days, and we are no exception.
Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Facebook videos, from my latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary of a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Facebook. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to our Facebook page. Social media is the place to be these days. And're no exception. I'm ken chester of the tech mobility show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have just the one for you. Hi, I'm Ken Chester. Tech Mobility Topics is a podcast where I upload topic-specific videos each week, shorter than a full show. These bite-sized programs are just the thing, particularly if We'll see you next time. You could never wear a suit again.
Speaker 1:You could not laugh when it's not funny you could go off and write that novel, climb that mountain, buy those shoes. You could fly in the face of convention or drive there. The Saab 9000, named the safest car in Sweden three times in a row Very eclectic commercial for a very eclectic car.
Speaker 2:For those of you that may not remember, sweden had at one time two car companies. There was Volvo, which is Chinese-owned but still has plants and facilities in Sweden, and then there was Saab, a car company that evolved out of an airplane manufacturer and Saabs were phenomenal cars for many years. So if this is a little bit beyond you, what happened? Saab got bought by GM, got caught up in the recession of 2009. Gm tried to sell. It didn't quite work and Saab ended up shutting down, along with Hummer, saturn, pontiac. All GM subsidiaries got shut down Within a couple of years. After that, ford added Mercury, and Oldsmobile had already been shut down almost 10 years prior. So Saab pretty cool, car quirky. They had one of the Subaru quirk, I'm sorry. One of the Saab quirks is that the starter key was actually in the center console as opposed to on the steering wheel or on the dashboard. Weird but true, just a sob-ism. I guess it's official.
Speaker 2:Duolingo, the language learning tech company, will, and I quote, gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle. Unquote. If you think that AI displacement of workers is years in the future, guess again. This is topic A. The reason why I am revisiting this issue we just talked about it last week is, unlike Shopify, that said, we're going to impact hiring. Duolingo is talking about current employees of the company, contract employees, temporary employees that currently work with the company, now that they will be phased out. So this is the next step. This is not a case of we're going to use AI as an example. If AI can't do it, then we'll consider hiring. This is, we are phasing out people who currently work for us now to replace them with AI. This is happening in real time right now.
Speaker 2:The thing we had talked about when I visited this subject before was the ethical challenge of going overboard with AI. Could companies, in their quest to be efficient, in their quest to be cost effective, in their quest to be the best they could be, go so zealous to eliminate human workers that there is nobody left to buy the products or services that the AI infused companies are producing without humans? Let that sink in. If you're not working, you're not buying. If AI is producing it in place of you, the products are there, but there are no customers. Ai doesn't use cell phones, they don't watch Netflix, they don't buy cars. What happens? How far are we going to go with this? Because right now, please understand, there are no federal guidelines in the united states of america regarding ai and how far a company can go.
Speaker 2:We reported here, maybe now two years ago, about radio GPT and I bring it up again because a particular company, particular radio chain, who shall remain nameless, at one of their stations in Oregon a few years ago launched it with radio talent and it was replacing the talent, theoretically, according to the company, so that free up the talent to do other stuff and face, you know, and public stuff. But people in any radio profession will tell you right now that is not how radio works. Right now we are in the midst of a reduction in force across big and small stations. The big deal with the writer's strike a couple of years ago in Hollywood was the use of AI to do their jobs. Will AI replace them? That was their major concern.
Speaker 2:And anybody who creates content, anybody who crunches numbers, that's, accountants and engineers and planners and all sorts of middle management, folk, marketing people, unlike previous automation initiatives down through the years, which were mainly factory-based and really were a benefit because they improved productivity but allowed workers not to have to do the heavy, dangerous stuff that they used to have to do. Now they were freed from that Welding, painting, things that were dangerous, that would consume your life or end you up in the hospital over time. Most of that's automated now. That's one thing. What we're talking about now is what used to be called middle class, middle management, tech support or technological the stuff that you went to school for, the things that you were educated for, your ability. Now your very knowledge is at stake, because AI can process way more than you can, can make a variety of suggestions, plans of action in real time, and, unlike us, it may take us hours. Ai will do it in seconds with the right prompts, and even now they talked about prompt engineers in another article. Even that's going away because you don't need to do that anymore.
Speaker 2:Here's what Duolingo's chief, the CEO, said. That was very chilling. I thought he said that being AI first means the company will need to rethink much of how we work, and and this is the part that makes me nervous that quote making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won't get us there. Making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won't get us there, meaning that they're going to rethink everything, and if they're rethinking for a system that doesn't need vacation time, sick time, doesn't have to be paid overtime, can crank this stuff out so many ways in seconds. Now I'll give you an example, full disclosure. When I post my podcasting information, one of the services that I use has something called AI Copilot. Now, it does not write my text and it does not produce content per se, but it does take the program, summarize it and gives a transcript Unprompted, in literally seconds, plus some other suggestions, but it's based on what I've already written and it's based on what I've already produced, so it's helpful for that. Could I take it to the next level and do the whole show? From what I understand, that is quite possible, in my voice, with my likeness, in my tone and cadence. That's how far AI has come. Duolingo may very well be the canary in the coal mine, and we need to do something about it. We need protection legislation so that there's some guidelines and not everybody's standing in the unemployment line Thanks to AI. While it's true, domestic auto plants have excess capacity, moving production to America is complicated.
Speaker 2:This is the tech mobility show. Do you listen to podcasts? Seems that most people do. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. If you've missed any of our weekly episodes on the radio, our podcast is a great way to listen. You can find the Tech Mobility Podcast just about anywhere you can enjoy podcasts. Be sure to follow us from Apple Podcasts, iheart Radio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility Podcast in the search bar. Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place to be. We're no exception. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. Several times a week, I post to TikTok several of the topics that I cover on my weekly radio show. It's another way to keep up on mobility technology news and information. I've built quite a library of short videos for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to watch, like and subscribe. That's the Tech Mobility Show on TikTok. Check it out.
Speaker 2:Engineering and building a vehicle line starts with years of planning, thousands of global suppliers and available workers, millions of square feet of factory space and billions of dollars in capital expenditures. It takes years to bring a new factory online, assuming you have the people and the engineering staff to run the factory. It's not something that automotive companies do quickly or on a whim. There are financial and logistical concerns that must be taken into consideration, often over a large number of years. We're talking about the logistics of the American auto industry. Talking about the logistics of the American auto industry, this is Topic B.
Speaker 2:All right, let's start with the obvious. I know you have heard news stories that said there is excess capacity in the American auto industry right now and you're thinking in your mind probably well, if there's excess capacity, they can easily move product in from overseas to build here in America right now. No, no, here's the challenge. Let me back you up a little bit and tell you what I've been telling you for years about the American auto industry. Well, actually, the global auto industry. I'm not going to just pin this on America. Let's start with the obvious.
Speaker 2:There are reasons, people, why certain vehicles, parts and equipment are not manufactured in the United States of America. Because the automakers, with their hundreds, if not thousands, of suppliers and thousands of parts that go into every vehicle they make, thousands of parts to go into every vehicle they make has to be made a financial business case for that whole program. And in order to do that, these folks fight over tens of a cent per unit built. That is how laser-focused they are. Every single job. Why? Because the average automobile assembly plant has an output straight time of 250,000 units. Let me give an example If they were to change one part or one process, that added a dollar a unit. That's a quarter of a million dollars a year. Right there, that's a dollar.
Speaker 2:Things get big real quick in the auto industry because they scale, and it's a little more difficult because here's something else to think about. Let me give you an example. Major auto manufacturer has a plant, let's say, in the Midwest. Their building will make it easy. They're building a particular size SUV for their market and they're building it at volume. So they're running 250,000 plus with overtime.
Speaker 2:Right now, to support that plant you've got a supplier park of suppliers from around the world and something called just-in-time inventory. This is something that they have fine-tuned over the last 40 years 45 years to be exact that allows them to synchronize and sequence incoming parts just-in-time, on the line, right before they need them. It saved the auto industry billions of dollars of work and process inventory, in other words, inventory that was partially made, that they kept on the factory floor to put into the vehicles. Part of the problem with that, in addition to tying up billions of dollars, was if there was a defect buried in there. They wouldn't find it until they pulled those parts out, and by that time it's a big problem Because if it started then I may have 300, 500, 1,000 units of that sitting on the floor of my plant With just-in-time I know the minute it shows up. If it's a problem and I can correct it right then. That increases quality, improves everything.
Speaker 2:The average automobile program has 2,000 to 3,000 suppliers globally. The average automobile assembly plant employs anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 people. You've got trucking companies deliver this stuff, rail companies deliver this stuff, steel companies all of that that has to be coordinated. There are logistics companies that do nothing but sequence all of this material for delivery to the plant in real time. It's not that easy. And if the vehicle I'm building overseas is a different vehicle, a different vehicle family than the plant where I have available capacity, I can't do that.
Speaker 2:And there are other reasons why this plant may look underutilized. I may have, or in my plans, an unannounced vehicle replacement for two years, three years, five years out. One, that requires negotiation with the union. Two, I got to line up all my suppliers. Three, there is some proprietary information. I don't want everybody knowing this just yet, because I'm trying to get a head start on the marketplace, so I may want to keep under the wraps as long as possible.
Speaker 2:It's not that easy. And let's just say, for example, everything is right, will I be able in that community to hire the two, three, 400 more workers I need to train to bring that plant up to speed for the added capacity? The problem we're seeing in the United States in some factories is they can't get enough people that they need with certain skill sets to run the plant. It's a little more complicated than that. And then, like I said, the suppliers complicated than that. And then, like I said, the suppliers would do. The suppliers in the supplier parks serving this plant have the added capacity because most of those suppliers don't just serve one company. They may be running their plants in certain different lines to serve two or three different automakers.
Speaker 2:Now you're coming and saying, gee, hey, wow, I want to increase output in this plant by 50,000 units a year. Do you realize that could take? Depending what the part is, depending where the plant is and everything else, that could take two, three years, literally could. It's not that easy and, honestly, because these are businesses, this is capitalism folks. They're looking at the numbers and they're looking at the long-term numbers, because any money they invest now they're looking at a 10, 15, 20 year payback. They're not looking at the next three years, four years. They got to look long-term. Is it worth to our global business to disrupt it, to move this back Now? If I'm building something similar on the same platform in another plant overseas, that might be possible. But even that, six months to a year and that's assuming everything goes right and that's assuming my suppliers can step up.
Speaker 2:Because there are other issues too, because you've signed contracts guaranteeing the supplier a certain volume up or down and there's a little bit of latitude. But these suppliers are in an industry where they're playing close to the vest. Their markup, their profit isn't that big and they did their business plan based on volume. So now you want to up the volume. That changes things. If I'm running a supplier plant serving three different manufacturers and I'm running at a 98% efficiency, I'm running everything hard and you're coming and said, okay, I need to increase this order by one fourth. How soon can you do it? That's a whole nother issue, because now, either I got to spend the money to expand my plant, hoping that your contract is solid and that's millions of dollars plus hire the people, order the equipment. That's lead time, no guarantees there.
Speaker 2:And, to be blunt with you in this day and time, if I was going to build in the United States right now, I'd automate that plant as much as possible because I got to make my return on the money and automation and AI, I hate to say it is the only way to go right now. If you're going to spend that kind of money, you need to get that turnaround. You need to make it profitable. You can't stay at a loss. Just to say made in America Doesn't make economic sense for anybody. So we'll see. But it's way more complicated than you're hearing. There are secret radio stations nationwide that are legal and perform a valuable service.
Speaker 1:Yet most people have never heard of them.
Speaker 2:We are the Tech Mobility Show. To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country. Keep up with the happenings of the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobility dot show. Did you know that TechMobility has a YouTube channel? Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the TechMobility show. Each week, I upload a few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel. That's the Tech Mobility Show on YouTube. Check it out.
Speaker 1:Are you tired of juggling multiple apps and platforms for meetings, webinars and staying connected? Look no further than AONmeetingscom, the all-in-one browser-based platform that does it all. With AONmeetings, you can effortlessly communicate with clients, host virtual meetings and webinars and stay in touch with family and friends all in one place and for one price. Here's the best part you can endure a 30-day free trial. It's time to simplify your life and boost your productivity. Aonmeetingscom, where innovation meets connection. Get started today and revolutionize the way you communicate.
Speaker 2:Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar on secret radio stations nationwide.
Speaker 2:A decades old news service has survived the move to digital. They're called radio reading services and they perform a vital function. This is topic c. They've been around for over 50 years and if you are visibly impaired, if you are vision impaired, then this service is a lifeline for you, particularly if you are my age or older, and it's been going on for years. And and what it is? It is actually an audio sideband to TV, believe it or not. And I didn't even know about this. I thought it was way cool and wanted to talk to you about it Because I didn't even know such a thing existed, really. But yeah, yeah, let me get into it. This is from Neiman Lab, which is kind of a nonprofit radio sort of outfit, and their point is local news is declining and AI is on the rise, but an old school form of accessibility exists Little perspective, let me help you. A little perspective, let me help you.
Speaker 2:When color television arrived in the United States, and this is about 60 years ago, it was quite literally transformed the way we saw the world. It's a product of many technological breakthroughs, but one most relevant to this story here is what they call the sideband or subcarrier, which is a modulated radio wave that can, in essence, carry more information on the same frequency. Color TV worked by sending a black and white picture in the main band of frequency and a color picture in a sideband. The two bands would then be recombined in the tubes of Color TV. Radio read services work on the same premise, except instead of pictures, they transmit a radio broadcast, when color TV brought more vibrant pictures in the living rooms around the country.
Speaker 2:Radio reading services, which are also known as audio information services, have almost the opposite audience. Every day, and even now, across the country, hundreds of volunteers read newspapers, magazines and books on the radio for thousands of listeners with blindness or vision loss, bringing them access to local, national and international news around the clock around the clock Bet you didn't even know such a thing existed. There are roughly 39 audio information services that are mostly based in the United States, and these stations, as I mentioned at the top of the segment, are super secret because they are designed to be used with people with vision impairments and other disabilities that can make reading difficult or turning pages difficult. Thanks to a provision in copyright law, copyrighted materials like books, magazines and newspapers can be reproduced for free for the sake of accessibility. What's so cool?
Speaker 2:The first radio reading service debuted actually north to here in Minnesota in 1969 as a side channel on KSJR, the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio. That first radio talking book schedule included two hours in the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper in the morning and two hours at the St Paul Dispatch in the evening, with readings from magazines and books in the intervening hours. More than 50 years later, this is still happening, and it happens live every day. The morning paper reading is now Minnesota Star Tribune. The St Paul Pioneer Press remains the service's most popular programming. And I need to stop right here here, because it just dawned on me that when I had my automotive news service, where I wrote columns both for the star Tribune and the pioneer press at the same time. It means because they read cover to cover, including advertising and everything that they were reading my car reviews to people who were vision impaired on these secret stations, which I think is incredibly cool. I had no idea Today there are 79 services like this across the country, most partner with local public radio or TV stations to carry their broadcast hid in a little side pocket of their airwaves.
Speaker 2:Now, in the past listeners wanted to tune into those stations but have to send in an application for a radio that could pick up their signal or switch their audio language on certain TV channels. But you know, technology comes to everybody and streamings come for these just as it for TV, so they're able to do this online. These just as it for TV, so they're able to do this online. Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service in Buffalo, new York, went online three years ago and they said it did wonders for the listenership because the big restriction they had was that the listeners needed one of their radios, so they were managing a large inventory of these special radios, picking them up and dropping them off all the time. But now anybody with an internet connection can play our live feed on a tablet or cell phone or computer, meaning that even vision impaired folks now have more options. Majority of the listeners for these services are over the age 65 and have aged in a vision loss or other disabilities that prevent them from reading the news on their own. That means they often don't know how to use the technology like screen readers, which don't play well with many websites. Anyway, the radio reading services provide their listeners with an experience that's hard to replicate with a computer listeners with an experience that's hard to replicate with a computer Reading a newspaper or magazine from cover to cover, including the comics and the grocery ads.
Speaker 2:I wonder, if you're reading the comics, how they can visualize what's going on. But yeah, the comics otherwise known as the funnies back in the day. Many of them read local papers because their listeners are interested in local news. But guess what? But the local news downturn has forced the reading services to adjust their programming as well. So, because they can't get the entire paper, they're supplying local papers with things like the Wall Street Journal because both of the local papers in this case were owned by the same paper. They're supplying local papers with things like the Wall Street Journal because both of the local papers in this case, were owned by the same people, so there was a lot of crossover and content. When a cyber attack disrupted the operations of Lee Enterprises, one of my clients back in the day, the Niagara Frontier Service had to figure out how to fill an extra hour of time after the Buffalo News delivered a smaller paper than usual.
Speaker 2:Here's a part I want you to pay particular close attention to again. For many people here's the underline especially in rural areas with poor internet access, the reading services, radio and TV broadcasts are essential lifelines to the outside world, and for some folks, some of the services even allow people to listen by dialing a phone number. Can you imagine being so far in the country with no internet service at all that that is the only way you can get it, that you can't even get a broadcast signal? There are some parts in the United States that are that remote, and for these people, this is the United States that are that remote, and for these people, this is the only way they get their news Through something you didn't even know existed before. A radio reading service, also manned by volunteers, I might add. None of this. They do not get paid to do this, none of them, and, like everybody else, they've been struggling to to raise money, but it's a worthy service and it's a worthy activity and it's something that they're very passionate about, and I can totally understand why.
