“In the new era, thought itself will be transmitted by radio.” ~Guglielmo Marconi, 1874-1937

A local weatherman asked me a question the other day and he was dead serious: “Where do you see television and radio in the next 10 years?”

Good question.

Now, while I don’t have a crystal ball, I do know how a crystal radio works. Radio and television are 2 ways to transmit emotion. Both provide a vehicle to stimulate the mind.

Before there was television, there was radio. Before that, the telegraph and the telephone blazed the communication trail. All are vehicles and given the progress of technology, the Internet and all its children is simply, the latest of these vehicles.

So, how will we communicate in the future?

With faster and cooler “vehicles”.

It doesn’t take a Mensa member to observe that all media is morphing into one. Nothing shouts this louder than what you may be holding in your hand:

Your smart phone.

It even provides a modern day telegraph in text messaging.

Getting back to my friend’s question: I believe that more and more, you’ll be able to use radio like television and vice-versa. Web cams already let you see radio and you certainly have the ability to listen to television, even in your car. Through todays tech, those who only listened can now, themselves, be heard and seen.

Even podcasting is radio with a different name. Both deliver content of the imagination.

Radio programs have become TV productions and new multi-media personalities, now have more than their allotted 15 minutes of fame, which is not unlike what happened to the radio stars of the 40’s who brought their audio wares to television.

Here’s the exciting part of this whole equation: While technology is ever changing, our human needs remain the same. We still, laugh, cry, speak, and communicate as best we can.

In other words, the audience is still using Adam and Eve technology to receive 21st century media. That means we still need human input to provide human output.

The square root of communication follows the circle of life.