Archive: Business & Technology

Dr. Digit 'Splains It AllDr. Digit 'Splains It All

One of my favorite things when I had an AOL account was AOL Radio. It had largely commercial free programming -- a few ads were interspersed with the content, with stations to suit every taste. On top of that it showed who was playing and what song they were performing. And if you really liked a song it offered links to purchase the CD, plus links to information about the artists and the music. I had tried many other on-line radio offerings, but none matched AOL's variety, ease of use, rich feature set and refreshing lack of popup advertisements.

My favorite purchase of 2005 was an XM radio for my car. It had many of the features I loved from AOL Rqadio, including commercial free programming, genre-based stations and a display that tells who is playing and what they are performing. On top of that they had news and talk stations, including popular television news and sports, comedy and kids.

So I was delighted when I learned that AOL had made AOL Radio free on their aol.com Web site and that they had partnered with XM for content. This meant you could get great commercial-free programming on your computer for free. Since most computers come with decent sound systems these days it's close to perfect.

Go to http://music.aol.com/ and you will see a row of black buttons near the top of the page. Click the one that says "AOL Radio." Next be sure your popup blocker is turned off and click the "Listen Now" button. A little screen will pop up telling how great AOL thinks AOL Radio is, with a "Launch AOL Radio" button.

If you haven't used it before, the "Launch" button will initiate a download of a little widget that makes it work. Follow the prompts and allow it to be installed. That is a one-time process. The little window then becomes the radio window. On the left is the list of stations. In the middle are two sections: the top tells about the station you are listening to, and the bottom tells what's playing, who the artist is, and provides those "Get it," "Buy it" and "Find Out More" links. On the right are ads (that's how they pay for it) and links to a program guide.

You don't have to be an AOL member to listen, but AOL, CompuServe, Netscape and AIM (the free Instant Message service) members can log in to customize the radio, including saving up to five "presets," a handy way to select your favorite stations without searching through the list each time. AOL members can also set connection settings.

But you don't need to join anything to enjoy this radio. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection, and some half decent speakers help. Not all the XM stations are on AOL Radio, but between the two providers there is plenty to keep you tapping your feet for a very long time.

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