It’s probably been since the late 1970’s when I last owned a battery powered, pocket-sized transistor radio. Yesterday I ordered the brand new XHDATA D-220 after having seen a review of it on John’s Tech Blog. I’m not certain I have a real use for it, it was just something I wanted – and it was under $20 on Amazon which made it mighty tempting. Sure, I’ve got endless streaming options and XM Radio in the Jeep. A ham radio friend even pointed out that I had a brand new Yaesu FT5D handheld transceiver that also covers the broadcast band, like I’d ever listen to music on that battery slurping little vampire…

It won’t ship until August 1st so this isn’t a review, just a mention of a transformative technology from my youth.

The last actual broadcast radio I purchased was The Public Radio, a slick little crowd-funded project (initially) that was an FM receiver inside a Mason Jar. It’s charm (besides being inside a jar!) is that the only controls are the off-on switch and volume. The frequency was selected by a tiny adjustment inside the container. It is intended to be exclusively for reception of a local NPR station, though the frequency could be set to anything. After having it on my desk for a few weeks I set the frequency to my wife’s favorite country music station and presented it to her. It’s been in her office ever since. I think we’ve replaced its battery once in the many years we have owned it.

I figure there’s room in my life for another radio, so in this election, I voted for a pocket-sized broadcast receiver because I’m too old to be a Spotify person. Having come of age in the 70s with Zeppelin and a transistor radio in my pocket, this should to be a hoot!