There have been times, that while driving to work or traveling, that I hear a new song and that I'd like to hear it again after it's finished playing. Instead, I have to wait until the radio station decides to play it again. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just reach over and push a button and record the current song that is playing? There could maybe be just so much space (memory)in the unit, that would allow for like 5 or 10 songs and there would be no way to "burn" the music to tape or CD so as to not infringe a copyright. I know some folks are thinking, that by the time one decides to hit "record" the song could be half over - well, if the device used buffering like portable CD Players do - to prevent skipping, that wouldn't be a problem - hitting "record" would allow for the whole song to be recorded - as long as "record" was hit before the song ended.
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There is a Swedish startup that does this, it is called popcatcher.
I am not related to them, met them at Cebit Hannover 2003.
Better still, have it work via wireless connection back to your desktop, so you can program upcoming shows, channels, etc. I like Howard Stern, C-SPAN radio and even, I hate to admit NPR. It would be great to look at a website of upcoming times and then save that wirelessly to a deck in my car. When I started my morning drive I could listen to Howard and skip the 35 minute commercial breaks.
Better still, embed the technology in my cell phone, which I charge next to my computer anyway and then allw me to "plug in" my cell phone to my car stereo and listen to the programs off my cell through the car system.
The next step: Add this capability to XM/Sirius Satellite Radio. They add tags to the songs/programs being played. The tags will act like program guide allowing users to filter particular songs, artists and albums.Hook this device with a large harddisk to store the songs over a period of time. Tags are used to name the files on disk, at leisure go through the harddisk keep the good stuff trash the rest.
This device got #10 in the Vaporware ratings for innovative products that were announced but never released. For more, see Wired.
Thought of this too but I took a bit different spin.
What if when you pressed the button, you were acknowledging that you wanted to purchase that track. A request was sent to a server that would forward the track to your email (or via FTP download) to your home computer. The service would automatically charge a pre-registered account or credit card.
I think Sirius beat you to the punch. I recall reading a while back that they plan to release this type of service in upcoming radios.
How about a very simple device that allows for time shifting of radio programs. Just a recorder that can record multiple frequencies at various times. Then my morning commute would simply be channel surfing the recordings ... rather than listening to the commercials. A trunk mounted recorder with builtin tuner(s) would do most of the work. Then add a wireless controller for the driver to allow Fast-forward, reverse, skip, etc. Signal could be sent from trunk to dash-radio via FM transmitter (which is already done for some expansion components). As with the video deck, the user interface is key.
Sirius and XM Satellite radio now have devices that do somethihng similar. However, it's less useful for what you want than you might think. It simply requires too much user intervention. TiVo works because you set it and forget it. constantly pusing the record button and then trying not to record too much etc. would soon lose it luster.
My Sirius Sportster Replay lets me pause live radio and pick up where I left off, but it has no storage capability so you cannot record specific songs and keep them for later. Total storage is only 44 minutes. I find it marginally useful. XM's unit stores lots more, but I don't know how you store and recal what you've recorded.