[BC] Future of Radio Eng. /was/ Computer based audio

[Sid Schweiger]

>>In IT work, there is no "thinking outside the box".<<

Listen here, sonny.  (I've always wanted to say that.  Gack.  I guess it
really is true...you do eventually become your parents.)

This is one IT manager with over 35 years of broadcast engineering under
his belt, and you couldn't be more wrong.  If you read some computer
industry periodicals (and I'm not talking about the consumer pap like PC
World or PC Magazine, although they are good for some things) you see IT
managers doing the exact same sort of problem solving and innovation
that broadcast engineers do, every single day.  In fact, with government
regulation of businesses on the increase, IT is deeply involved in
addressing most, if not all, of the issues businesses have with
regulatory compliance.  None of these solutions appear in textbooks, nor
are there the equivalent of Elmers in IT because as a discipline it
hasn't been around for long enough.  Solutions have to be invented, and
it's happening every day.

And as for broadcast engineers, those who don't learn IT *now* are soon
going to be out of work...permanently.  I see the equipment arriving at
work, and almost all of it now contains something that wasn't there when
I started in broadcasting...an Ethernet port.  We're now testing the new
Comrex box which does remotes over the public Internet, and the sound
quality is outstanding.  The Audemat-Aztec HDRadio monitoring equipment
has Ethernet connections and an embedded web page interface.  Burk
remote controls are now ported to PC software via serial port
connections.  I could go on, but I think it's self-evident that the two
disciplines are merging rapidly.



Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
WAAF - WEEI AM/FM - WMKK - WRKO - WVEI
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Boston MA  02135-2040
Phone: 617-779-5369
Fax: 617-779-5379
E-Mail: sid at wrko.com