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Jack Schofield has an interesting article about DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), the digital radio frequency used in the UK, in today’s Guardian Technology section.

As a geek, digital Radio appealed to me for a long time, yet I never invested. Here’s why:

I’m an avid radio listener, but I only really listen to two channels: Radio Three and Radio Four (plus a couple of Radio Two Podcasts). Radio 3 gives me an insight into Classical Music - which I don’t know a great deal about (but remain very interested), and Radio Four makes up the rest (about 90% of my radio diet).

As Schofield explains, the output from DAB is actually worse than FM Stereo (with a good reception, a position taken by many audiophiles), so it’s absolutely no choice for Classical Music, where the richness of the sound is imperative. And Radio Four? Well it has great national coverage and - being speech - is perfectly adequate on the one-speaker Sony FM wireless we have in the kitchen or on the car stereo. I don’t need, or particularly want, DAB. If the country upgrades to the cheaper - and better - DAB+, I might think again.

Britain bought wholesale into the DVD format because the improvements over VHS were clear. Likewise, Broadband internet and HD-TV have excellent penetration because they’re much better than the technology they have superseded. DAB, regardless of the millions spent pushing the format, has never really convinced the British public that the change was necessary. Popularity in technology is, of course, self-nourishing (popularity ensures greater production and therefore lower marginal costs), and the tepid response to the format has meant that DAB radio remained expensive until only recently. Only a few years ago you would pay £80 for a stand-alone DAB unit, while £20 DVD players were stacked high at the supermarket.

DAB has missed the boat, and it’s time to cut its throat.