Poll: Does Shortwave Radio Have a Future?

[RKP5637]

Our current infrastructure can be censored, infiltrated and/or brought down. SW radio transcends all of this. Some days I wonder about the future if things got pretty unstable. There has also been ongoing work in digital sw transmissions, very clear, but not as long ranged.

http://swling.com/blog/2014/11/does-shortwave-radio-have-a-future/

But there are other advantages of shortwave radio over Internet–especially in parts of the world where governments tightly control their country’s media:

Shortwave radio cannot be easily monitored by a government. In North Korea, for example, this is why shortwave radio remains a vital lifeline of information about the outside world. Censorship of shortwave radio is comparatively unsuccessful, while the Internet is often subject to total blocking.

Shortwave radio is the ultimate free speech medium, as it has no regard for national borders, nor for whom is in power (or not in power) at any moment.

Shortwave radio is inexpensive to the listener, because:
Radios are affordable and plentiful;
No apps are required, and
No subscription fees are needed.

Information races over shortwaves at the speed of light. No buffering is needed, and there is no speed difference between one area to another.

Shortwave radio works everywhere on the planet. You don’t have to be within a local broadcast footprint or that of a satellite to receive broadcasts. Even in the most impoverished parts of the world, you’ll find shortwave radios and batteries that run them. Their “market penetration” surpasses even that of the smart phone.

Shortwave radio is a basic, simple technology, requiring little to no learning curve for use.
Moreover, only this year we’ve found that shortwave radio may be an excellent means of disaster communications over vast areas, encompassing oceans and continents. Check out this report from the CDAD network.

In addition, Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott of Voice of America has been successfully broadcasting digital messages over a shortwave AM carrier for well over a year, in the form of the VOA Radiogram he produces. These data modes are so efficient, that they can break through even the most robust jamming techniques used by the Chinese government to censor broadcasts.

4 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, sw has a future.
	4 (100%)
	no, sw has no future.
	0 (0%)
	Maybe.
	0 (0%)
	As a non-censored source, it's vital sw has a future.
	0 (0%)
	I see you're posting polls again at night!
	0 (0%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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