Os problemas de congestionamento das redes foram ultrapassados?
«The Internet was proclaimed for many years as the future of radio but while this may be true for music services the same cannot be so confidently said for speech. Overuse means the Internet is getting slower and more crowded: most sites will be able to support themselves through advertising, but as the cost of speech is usually higher it has less chance of succeeding.(...)» (Berry, 2006: 288)
«In short, the digital age could prove to be more 'talkative' than its analogue predecessor was» (Berry 295)
A rádio de palavra nunca (?) poderá ser tão interactiva quanto a musical?
A partir do momento em que será cada vez mais raro - pressupõe-se - assistirmos a uma escuta absolutamente passiva, como a que se verifica ainda hoje pela transmissão convencional, substituida por graus/níveis diferentes (e graduais) de intervenção por parte do utilizador (compelido a tal pelo novo sistema radiofónico - participe, vote, escolha, comente, etc), até que ponto nomeadamente quando se fala em rádio de palavra será possivel o multitasking? ou seja, até que ponto o consumo audio não será de tal maneira absorvente (primário) que não nos permitirá fazer outras coisas em simultâneo, com tudo o que isso possa significar para o consumo do meio (melhor consumo, mais dedicado, mas menor consumo, em termos quantitativos - uma coisa compensará a outra?)
até que ponto o multitasking online é diferente do convencional?
A partir do momento em que será cada vez mais raro - pressupõe-se - assistirmos a uma escuta absolutamente passiva, como a que se verifica ainda hoje pela transmissão convencional, substituida por graus/níveis diferentes (e graduais) de intervenção por parte do utilizador (compelido a tal pelo novo sistema radiofónico - participe, vote, escolha, comente, etc), até que ponto nomeadamente quando se fala em rádio de palavra será possivel o multitasking? ou seja, até que ponto o consumo audio não será de tal maneira absorvente (primário) que não nos permitirá fazer outras coisas em simultâneo, com tudo o que isso possa significar para o consumo do meio (melhor consumo, mais dedicado, mas menor consumo, em termos quantitativos - uma coisa compensará a outra?)
Mais uma definição de rádio
« (...) we can define radio as being a programme or series of programmes intended to be received without images and broadcast live rather than accessed on demand» (Berry, 2006: 285)
As limitaçõs técnicas não podem condicionar os julgamentos
(eis um exemplo de como se podem chegar a conclusões erradas partindo de permissas erradas, porque limitadas ao tempo em que vivemos; é fundamental não deixar que, por exemplo, as limitações/caracteristicas tecnicas enviesem as reflexões, seja tambem por falta - excesso? - de ambição; o autor subscreveria isto, hoje?)
«What do we mean by 'radio'? One could argue that the attribute which has made radio so enduring is its portability, but the exigencies of the new technology are such that the only way one can access online material is to use a computer connected to the internet via a telephone, digital or corporate line. This presents some key problems in the reception of radio or audio content. Home computers are linked to the Internet via a nodem using conventional copper telephone wires, which by their nature can carry only a limited amount of data at any one time. Therefore if one assumes that listening is secondary to the user's purpose in being online, she or he is already using much of the available bandwidth to download webpages, images or e-mails. And as the latter are downloaded the audio connection may pause, stutter or stop completely» (Berry, 2006: 284)
A riqueza do debate
«these new forms of transmission offer both opportunities and threats to the radio broadcaster but also provide some challenging theoretical debates for the radio academic.» (Berry, 2006: 284)
BERRY, Richard (2006) Speech Radio in Digital Age, in in CRISELL, Andrew (ed). More than a music box: radio cultures and communities in a multi-media world. Nova Iorque: Berghahn Books. 283-296
O consumo passivo em momento de transição (industria resiste)
(a rádio que resiste em tirar partido das potencialidades oferecidas pela net, nomeadamente a interactividade)
«Although large numbers of radio stations are now making use of the Internet, the nature of that use varies substantially. By far the primary use ofthe sites is for station-related promotional purposes. Based on a content analysis of the sites of commercial radio sites in the United States, Lind and Medoff (2000) report that nearly three-quarters of the sites they investigated contain promotional materials such as programming guides, profiles of staff and other forms of station information. Considerably fewer stations - between 10 and 25 percent - provide information related to news stories, sports and the weather. Contact with stations was for the most part arranged through e-mail links. Other forms of contact or feedback - listener surveys and registration forms, discussion groups and bulletin boards sessions - were organised by small fractions of the stations studied. No more than 15 percent of the sites examined by Lind and Medoff (2000) provide chat opportunities for listeners.» (van Selm et al, 2006: 267)
RESISTIR, a partir da rádio, em aderir: «The BuZz web radio staff, on the other hand, showed a reluctance to provide listeners with too much influence over programme content» (279-280)
«Although we would not want to exaggerate the suggested relation between web radio and communIty media features, we do feel the use of interactive Internet tools has implications for both programmers and listeners. Consultation of audio archives demands a more active stance than many conventional radio listeners may be willing to accept. And web radio programmers that incorporate chat services into their repertoire of listener-oriented activities will have to take input from listeners more into account than they normally may consider appropriate. These developments create, in fact, a dilemma for both prorammers and listeners. The more radio stations make use of the interactive and multimedia potentials of the Internet, the less the programming resembles conventional radio fare. (...) In our study of the radio programme BuZz suggests that this transformation is problematic and tends to be resisted by all involved.» (280)
«Lind and Medoff first concluded that at the time of their study, most broadcast executives were guilty of not realizing the potential of their streaming efforts. Specifically, the researchers found that although stations understood the value of using the Web's interactive capability to establish better interaction with listeners, Webcasters largely failed to utilize information and design features capable of attracting the psychographically unique Internet user. Moreover, stations were especially lax in offering visual information with their streamed signals (information that was offered was primarily local in nature), sites were not well maintained, and stations seemed surprisingly slow to develop additional revenue-producing opportunities from this new medium.» (Evans, Smethers, 2001: 7) [The Lind and Medoff research provides an important snapshot in the development of Cyber radio in the late 199Os, although the data, while highly relevant at the time of the study, have been rendered somewhat dated with the passage of time, an inescapable risk associated with studying rapidly evolving media technology -pag 8].
Estudar o conceito de interactividade
«The concept of interactivity has been the topic of considerable study, particularly regarding the Internet and multimedia (for example, van Dijk and de Vas 2001; Hanssen, Jankowski and Etienne 1996; Jensen 1999; McMillan and Downes 2000; Rafaeli 1988). Regarding web radio, Lind, Medoff and Rarick (2001) suggest that one of the factors for visiting web radio stations is the possibility of interaction with others. Other factors they mention include enhanced reception, the passing of time, information acquisition and entertainment.
A general description of interactivity has been proposed by Rafaeli and Sudweeks (1997) as 'a process-related, variable characteristic of communication settings. Like face-to-face ommunication, computer-mediated communication has the capacity of enabling high interactivity. One postulated outcome of interactivity is engagement'. Jensen (1999) has extended this description to a typology of communication patterns and has applied it to forms of Internet communication. He builds on the four information traffic patterns identified by Bordewijk and van Kaam (1982): transmission, consultation, registration and conversation» (van Selm et al, 2006: 267-268)
«According to the radio staff interviewed, the main distinction between web radio and conventional radio is the incorporation of interactive features into programming. Both interactive tools provided by BuZz, the archive and the chat box, were considered valuable by the staff of this programme.» (van Selm et al: 2006: 272)
[EST ESTUDO, ENTREVISTANDO GENTE QUE TRABALHA NA RÁDIO E UTILIZADORES/OUVINTES, MOSTRA UMA GRANDE DIFERENÇA ENTRE AMBOS 273-274: «The above statements suggest a discrepancy between radio programme hosts and 'chatters' regarding the value assigned to interactions during the web shows. The focus group members expressed a degree of disappointment with the way in which the hosts incorporated the chat box into the web-based radio programme.» 274«This lack of enthusiasm for the contribution of chat box by programme hosts did not go unnoticed by listeners» 275)
«In summary, interactive media can facilitate two-way communication. It remains uncertain, however, whether radio programme hosts are adequately aware of the implications of programme hosts are adequately aware of the implications of this for their work. Their status as radio 'stars' is, in a sense, duced to that of facilitator or moderator of a website where lies are discussed and music played. » (van Selm, 275)
Aplicação a outras gerações
Uma das vantagens deste estudo com a geração iPod é que eles, não conhecendo a rádio (ou não tendo estabelecido uma relação duradoura com ela) não se sentem ligados a ela, não estranham as mudanças, as diferenças, a propria 'descaracterização'.
Mas como entender o mesmo relativamente a gerações pós-35 anos, aquelas que cresceram a ouvir rádio?
«(...) there was limited interest in becoming an active user of the interactive tools made available. Another possibly - yet to be verified - thought is that using a web radio site as a place from which music can be downloaded transforms the image of the site to that of a database with a specific content and, hence, strips the site of its identity as a radio station. Listeners of web radio may expect web radio to provide traditional radio programming along with the availability of a number of multimedia tools. This aspect is suggested by Lind, Medoff and Rarick (2001) in their study; they reported that listeners appreciated traditional radio functions as well as the new capabilities pro. provided by the Internet.» (van Selm, 2006: 273)
'Demasiado esforço' - manter-se consumidor passivo (recusar o controlo)
«Listeners of web radio who participated in the focus group interviews also emphasised that on-demand music services provide a degree of individual control and may become an important characteristic of future Internet-based radio prograrnming. In contrast, the focus group members did not make use of this feature themselves. (...) One of the focus group interviewees expressed this position as follows: ’You just do not always feel like chocsing between alternatives or formulating your own preferences. That’s too much of an effort.’(...) there was limited interest in becoming an active user of the interactive tools made available. (van Selm et al: 2006: 272-273) [Interviews were held in 1999 with five website radio staff: four programme hosts and one web master. The online survey was held amongst visitors to the website and was completed by forty-one respondents. Focus group interviews were held survey respondents who indicated they were regular participants of the BuZz chat box. Two focus group interviews were held, each with four persons» (271)],
[EST ESTUDO, ENTREVISTANDO GENTE QUE TRABALHA NA RÁDIO E UTILIZADORES/OUVINTES, MOSTRA UMA GRANDE DIFERENÇA ENTRE AMBOS 273-274: «The above statements suggest a discrepancy between radio programme hosts and ’chatters’ regarding the value assigned to interactions during the web shows. The focus group members expressed a degree of disappointment with the way in which the hosts incorporated the chat box into the web-based radio programme.» 274«This lack of enthusiasm for the contribution of chat box by programme hosts did not go unnoticed by listeners» 275) «In summary, interactive media can facilitate two-way communication. It remains uncertain, however, whether radio programme hosts are adequately aware of the implications of programme hosts are adequately aware of the implications of this for their work. Their status as radio ’stars’ is, in a sense, duced to that of facilitator or moderator of a website where lies are discussed and music played. » (van Selm, 275)
«Traditional gratifications associated with listening to radio programming, such as being entertained and informed (see, for example Lind, Medoff and Rarick, 2001), suggest that listeners of web radio programming would be reluctant to seek to exercise control over the content of web radio shows. In this case study it appears that listeners appreciate being entertained by a mixture of web radio items and music selected by the programme hosts» (van Selm et al 279)
Os conteúdos são sobretudo promocionais (e não interactivos)
(a rádio que resiste em tirar partido das potencialidades oferecidas pela net, nomeadamente a interactividade)
«Although large numbers of radio stations are now making use of the Internet, the nature of that use varies substantially. By far the primary use ofthe sites is for station-related promotional purposes. Based on a content analysis of the sites of commercial radio sites in the United States, Lind and Medoff (2000) report that nearly three-quarters of the sites they investigated contain promotional materials such as programming guides, profiles of staff and other forms of station information. Considerably fewer stations - between 10 and 25 percent - provide information related to news stories, sports and the weather. Contact with stations was for the most part arranged through e-mail links. Other forms of contact or feedback - listener surveys and registration forms, discussion groups and bulletin boards sessions - were organised by small fractions of the stations studied. No more than 15 percent of the sites examined by Lind and Medoff (2000) provide chat opportunities for listeners.» (van Selm et al, 2006: 267)
RESISTIR, a partir da rádio, em aderir: «The BuZz web radio staff, on the other hand, showed a reluctance to provide listeners with too much influence over programme content» (279-280)
O rápido crescimento da rádio através da Internet (5.0 introd)
«The first experiment with web radio is attributed to the campus station at the University of Kansas that began continuous broadcasting via the Internet in December 1994 (Kaye and Medoff 1999). Commercial radio stations in the United States followed suit about a year later, and since then the number of stations with a web presence and form of Internet broadcasting has multiplied substantially» (van Selm et al, 2006: 266)
van SELM, Martine, JANKOWSKI, Nicolas W. e KLEIJN, Bibi (2006). Dutch Web Radio as a Medium for Audience Interaction, in CRISELL, Andrew (ed). More than a music box: radio cultures and communities in a multi-media world. Nova Iorque: Berghahn Books. 267-282
O futuro da rádio não-musical
«It is not musical diversity but intellectual potential that is the primary reason we must keep faith with radio in this multi-media age» (Crisell a: 2006: 18)
A rádio como o 'meio-Cinderela'?
«Radio -- The Cinderella Medium»
«Creative Advertisements for the Cinderella Medium: The Case of Flanders, Belgium »
A 'cegueira' da rádio deve ser vista como uma mais-valia
«Radio, on the other hand, has an advantage even over the printed text in being entirely non-visual and can thus let as a secondary intellectual medium - one through which we can absorb many if not all forms of information and ideas while being free to do something else. (...) the blindness of radio should be seen as a precious asset» (Crisell a, 2006: 10)
«(...) if we wish to broadcast informative and analytical material, then having regard to the innate character of radio and television and starting, as it were, with a tabula rasa, we will find it more effective to do so through the blind medium of radio than through the pictorial medium of television.» (Crisell a 2006: 12)
(com que implicações ao nivel do proprio futuro da rádio? isto significa que ela se deve continuar a centrar no seu elemento sonoro, em detrimento das caracteristicas multimedia? colocar a questão no consumo passivo)
O fim da rádio?
«It is conceivable that some of the iconic deficiencies of radio [blindness, medium as 'secondary'] will be offset by the new digital technology. Internet radio can offer still pictures, video clips - even printed text to remedy the evanescence of the medium's spoken words. But the question then arises as to whether this would be 'enhanced radio' radio with added pictures; or 'reduced radio' - radio which has been relegated to the status of a soundtrack. Given the primacy of our faculty of sight the latter possibility may seem more likely. Would this mean the end of radio as we know it?» (Crisell a, 2006: 6)
CRISELL (a), Andrew (2006), Look with Thine Ears: BBC Radio 4 and its significane in a multi-media age», in CRISELL, Andrew (ed). More than a music box: radio cultures and communities in a multi-media world. Nova Iorque: Berghahn Books. 3-19