Alan Cross’ Journal of Musical Things noticed an interesting product from ION Audio: a cassette adapter that turns any stereo system which includes a cassette player into a Bluetooth-enabled streaming audio system. ION specializes in digital enabling — its product lineup includes turntables that convert to digital files, and wireless tailgate speakers.
The Cassette Adapter Bluetooth (did Yoda make that name?) simply goes into the cassette player, and accepts streaming from any Bluetooth-enabled device, such as just about every smartphone in the world. Boom — the old, neglected stereo system is suddenly blasting Pandora, Spotify, or another online option.
Wireless home audio is hurtling into the mainstream with a fast-growing selection of WiFi speakers, Bluetooth speakers, WiFi+Bluetooth speakers, and gadgets like Chromecast that turn any room in the home (or all of them) into receptacles for streaming audio. As such, the entire category can be regarded as an assault on home radio and AM/FM listenership by extension. AM/FM does fit into these new systems, via webcast streaming and aggregating platforms like TuneIn and iHeartRadio. In the home, as in the car, choices are multiplying at blinding speed, and traditional radio takes a place on a vastly expanded “dial.”