EDWARD SCHWEIKERT: Is government killing FM radio?

So, Norway will discontinue its FM radio in 2017. When I drove to work, I would listen to a Columbus rock station. The initial signal was as clear as local. Now, the same signal fades as I drive. I thought that was unusual, like the government (FCC and Congress) narrowed the band width and/or reduced its power.

Will we lose our FM radio like Norway, but quicker?

One must remember that FM signal represents the old analog signal and governments do not trust laymen. With a digital signal, a government can listen and track your behavioral pattern and every word you speak. Governments become angry when they eavesdrop on each other, but the common man, they can tolerate.

What I cannot understand is the government and the experts saying that digital is cheaper than analog. Have they traced the processing avenues: dig raw material out of the ground, transport raw product to the manufacturers, process the raw material into a finished product, transport to you, create and use its data, then destroy the product when it is replaced or broken?

And the signal transmitted through the air? It is similar to laser (narrow beam). Those “experts” tried to fire the first laser and the crystal melted. They had to create a cooling system to protect the crystal.

When is the public going to say “enough is enough” and reel in the government and the monopolizing digital communication business before they destroy the only planet we live on?

EDWARD SCHWEIKERT

Albany