Has broadband helped rejuvenate radio broadcasting? It gives you a global audience, which can be a mixed blessing. It's lovely but you can't make too much of it as people in Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan aren't paying licence fees. A lot of people tell me they listen to the show again on Monday morning. That ability to listen again via the net has helped free listeners from the mild tyranny of scheduling. My wife's an Archers nut so she always listens to the omnibus on a Sunday afternoon.
Has broadband changed the way you surf? I have the radio on while surfing. I think the "always on" facility changes the way you use the net. I used to write Q magazines' internet column in the early 90s so was a fairly early adopter. For the first few years "going online" was like making a phone call. Now it's piped constantly to your house and my laptop's connected all day if I'm working from home. If I could just get my wireless working!
So you're giving Wi-Fi a try? Thereby hangs a tale. I'm a tech enthusiast but the past few weeks have had nothing but problems. I can't get my AirPort Extreme working with my laptop. People keep telling me it's simple so maybe I just need to sit down for an hour with it. Wireless internet will be useful as I use the net a lot and like the idea of being able to surf from anywhere in the house.
Does the success of iTunes mean the CD's days are numbered? The decision-making process as to what gets copied into your iPod takes work. It will make massive changes for the real enthusiast, although there'll still be people who buy the new Dido CD and that's enough. I don't look at my CD collection withany great pleasure as I mainly think what a lot of space it takes up! I'd be happy to have the CDs in storage as long as I could access the music.
iPods? My iPod is changing the way I listen to music. I was in the Lakes with a mate and we had our iPods. We took turns to put them on random for half an hour to see what each other had. I use my iTunes all the time with the iPod although I haven't used the subscription site for downloading anything. Making the mini iPods is a clever move. I initially thought they were over-priced but there are people who'd be happy to have 100 songs loaded up. Not everybody's like me and wants 40GB to choose from!
Gadgets? I spend my life on trains so my Toshiba Portable DVD player comes in handy. I would love a GNU Media Servers, which is a box that handles your email, satellite telly and pipes Bach into the bedroom and Kylie into the bathroom.
Whose email address would you like? Steve Jobs and I'd like him to explain why I can't delete any emails on my Apple mail application. I have 1,500 emails in my inbox and can't delete any.
Visit: www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/criticallist and www.randomhouse.co.uk/minisites/ciderwithroadies
