Aural

Griffin RadioShark

TiVo for radio

What I have wanted for some time is TiVo for the radio. The Griffin RadioSHARK is it. It’s a $35 USB device that plays, pauses, and records live radio on a Mac or PC.

I want the convenience of being able to listen my favorite shows on my own schedule. If I get interrupted, I want to be able to pause the program. More than that, I want to be able to schedule recordings in advance, and I want to listen to them on my iPod. The RadioSHARK obliges.

I kept expecting something to go wrong, but nothing did. Setup was a snap, and reception was good. As I was going away for the weekend, I programmed it to record “Prairie Home Companion” and “This American Life”, two of my favorite shows. When I came back, there they were. There is even an option to add a scheduled recording to an ITunes playlist, so as soon as I synced my iPod, I could take them with me.

One nit: You have to enter the date, time, station, and duration manually as there is no integrated program guide (though there is one you can get online at RadioTime.)

-- Mitch Kapor 02/4/05

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