Clear Channel (iHeart) Killed The Radio Star

by Kevin Burton    In the old days we turned on our radios for music, for news, for sports and weather forecasts, and we got all those things.    But what we really loved, and what kept us coming back for more, was the way those things were delivered, something that was woven throughout the …

Raised On Radio: MTV And Killer Video

by Kevin Burton    In J.G. Ballard’s short story “The Sound-Sweep,” the main character is a non-verbal boy who has the job of vacuuming up all the stray sounds in a world without music.    He befriends an opera singer living in an abandoned recording studio. The opera singer is destitute, having been displaced from …

Overchoiced And Underconfident

by Kevin Burton My longtime beep baseball team mate Mike Miller who pitched for the Columbus Vipers is famous for calm under pressure and for saying “It’ll all work out.” So it was his voice I heard in my head Sunday night when I realized, against all odds, I was in position to get four …

Overdue Tech Upgrade Coming, But When?

by Kevin Burton    One of the truths to emerge from our family emergency April 13 was how badly I need to learn the tech language.     We got an emergency call that my mother-in-law had fallen in the parking lot of her assisted living facility and was unable to get up. We would not …

My Phone’s Not Dumb, You’re Dumb

by Kevin Burton    One last petulant blast. That’s all this is, I fear.    BBC business reporter Suzanne Bearne did a story on the return of the “dumbphone.” I hadn’t heard that anything not a smartphone is considered a dumbphone, but it doesn’t surprise me.    Neither am I surprised that flip phones like …

Drone Helps Save Life Of Swedish Man

by Kevin Burton     Health care systems worldwide use drone technology to overcome physical and other barriers in an effort to save lives.    The technology was crucial for a Swedish man late last year, as reported by the BBC.    “An autonomous drone has helped to save the life of a 71-year-old man who …

My Smallish Musical Debut Is Coming

by Kevin Burton    Alison Trelfa’s “Winter Warmer,” to be released in the UK Nov. 30, has one element no album has ever had.    Me.     Let me be clear up front, I won’t exactly be featured on the album, and there is still editing to be done.  But I am pretty sure my …