The legacy of radio in the modern world

Radio was undoubtedly the largest technology in global entertainment across the total of the 20th Century.

Although it has been replaced in many regions as the primary method of communication and entertainment, it remains a powerful force in the world. Here are just a few of the hundreds of ways radio is impacting the world right now, and why it will continue to be a critical media long into the future.

Wi-Fi

Anyone with a passing knowledge of radio will know that it holds the root of Wi-Fi, easily one of the most influential technologies of a still-young century. With advances in the fundamental hardware and software, Wi-Fi has become powerful enough to handle every kind of task from graphics and data for entertainment to enormous file sizes in tandem with cloud technology.

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Wi-Fi has allowed the birth of entire industries, from the vast movie and TV streaming industry to forming the basis of the online casino world. Odds are, if someone goes to play Gem Heat or any of the other thousands of other slot games out there, they’ll likely be playing over Wi-Fi on a smartphone or other mobile device. Without radio’s contribution to Wi-Fi, these and other industries wouldn’t enjoy anywhere near their current levels of success.

Satellites

On a similar topic of sending data and information, satellites have become an indispensable part of modern life. Just like Wi-Fi, satellite broadcasting is based on radio technology, except on a vast scale around the world of thousands of aligned dishes bouncing radio waves to wherever they are needed. Some dishes like the Huge FAST Telescope in China have been scaled up to the point they are half a kilometre across.

While they are essential for more complex things like research, global business logistics, and environmental monitoring, most of us will find the most common uses to be in things like advanced weather prediction as well as GPS navigation. The global satellite network is a testament to the capabilities of the humble radio at full scale.

Microwaves

Going down to a much smaller scale of things, the radio signals used within microwaves may not seem quite as vital as global satellites, but they have a significant role to play nonetheless. Millions of people around the world use microwave ovens as a fast, portable, and overall convenient substitute for a regular oven. Ever since the launch of the original RadaRange device in the late 40s, it has become one of the staple kitchen appliances.

Apart from just warming up leftover stew, scientists are still discovering new ways to make use of microwaves, such as the recent work by Austrian scientists who have found that the ovens can efficiently recycle the silicon from solar panels. Although the tech may be humble in relative terms, we’ve yet to fully see how this use of radio waves could be used in the future.

Whether it’s down on Earth or up in the stars, radio is set to have a long future. All that remains is seeing how it may get put to use next!