Internet radio is easy to listen to

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The Mac player, iTunes, is so strikingly designed, in fact, that it would be the ideal subject for a class on software interfaces.

technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

Internet radio is easy to listen to, on a Windows PC or a Mac

March 13, 2002

By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, The Post-Standard

   Listening to radio stations on the Internet is easy. You don't need fancy software and you don't have to pay a cent.
   If you're a Windows user, you have an easy way to tune in to Internet radio stations. Use the Radio toolbar at the top of Internet Explorer to locate stations that interest you, then make shortcuts (Favorites) to those stations. You can do that by clicking the tiny arrow at the right of the "Radio Stations" button, then clicking "Add Station to Favorites."
   If you don't see a Radio toolbar, click the View menu, choose "Toolbars" and make sure the "Radio" entry has a checkmark. If you don't see a "Radio" option in the list of toolbars, your version of IE will need to be upgraded. The current version is 6, but it's buggy, so choose Internet Explorer 5.50. It's the last reliable version.
   (Find out which version of Internet Explorer you have by clicking "About Internet Explorer" in the IE Help menu. The main version number comes before the period. It's often followed by many minor version numbers, so don't be confused if you see them.)
   You can find many dedicated programs for listening to Internet radio -- try a search on Google for internet radio software -- but Internet Explorer plays Internet radio stations superbly well. IE's method takes almost no extra computing power and works perfectly well in the background. Once you have a station tuned in, you can even close Internet Explorer and keep listening.
   Macintosh users have an equally good way to listen. Macs bought within the last few years come with a clever audio program called iTunes. (You can download iTunes free from www.apple.com if you don't have it.) iTunes has an Internet radio function built in. It's beautifully designed and easy to use -- so strikingly designed, in fact, that it would be the ideal subject for a class on software interfaces.
   iTunes shows you about 20 categories of Internet radio, with many stations in each category. The Reggae category, for example, had five stations last week when I checked it, and the New Age category had a dozen. (I like to listen to both kinds of music when I'm trying to get my mind off work. I like opera and Pink Floyd, too. Figure THAT out!)
   Internet radio stations aren't necessarily the same as regular broadcast stations. You'll find plenty of those, of course -- stations such as KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah (one of the West's largest all-news stations) and WUNC, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are fun to listen to on the Net -- but most Internet radio stations can only be heard on the Net.
   Local radio stations around the country sometimes provide Internet feeds of their regular programming. Check the Web sites of stations near you for more information. Their sites usually match their call letters. Public stations usually have "org" at the end of their address instead of "com."