From Raymond Harrowell
Regular readers of New Scientist will have had a sense of déjà vu when they read Barry Fox’s report on “news-on-demand” (Technology, 7 October). This news service, to be called BBC Now, will deliver 10-minute bulletins of news, sport, and so on “at ihe push of a button”. Stored as a rolling loop of digital code, the news can be constantly updated by the duty editor. It will be transmitted on the BBC’s digital audio broadcast (DAB) system. A listener with a suitable DAB receiver will be able to scan the loop to select a preferred item, such as the latest cricket score.
This bears an uncanny resemblance to a system that I proposed in a Forum article more than eight years ago (30 July 1987). I highlighted the need for quick non-serial access to information: “… for instance, one may have to wait through reports on motor racing, golf and many other boring items in a Saturday afternoon’s Sport on 2 before the latest cricket scores are divulged”.
My system was a little more sophisticated than the BBC’s as it involved time-division multiplexed transmission. But, like theirs, “… during a 10-minute (recorded bulletin) … one could then, with a minimal delay, select the item of one’s choice”. I wonder how long they’ve been thinking about it. Remember you saw it first in here.
