Hasta La Gadget!

These days, a proper computer is so cheap that we can’t help but wonder if dedicated internet appliances will soon die off. The NPR Radio (an actual physical radio that, yes, will play NPR Radio*) at least brings a few things to the party that a netbook still can’t: a speaker that will produce more than a tinny buzz, and a remote control, but otherwise this does no more than a piece of software.

Along with NPR stations (1,000 of ‘em) the Livio-made radio will tune in to any of 16,000 internet radio stations, or you can hook up another music player into the jack, and play them through its seven watt speaker. The search funcion doesn’t sound too quick, either:

In mere minutes, through a wireless of Ethernet connection, search by genre, location or keyword, and find NPR content and other world programming for free.

“Mere” minutes, in a world where google search times are measure in milliseconds. Still, it should pass the “granny test” in ease of use, and it looks like a friendly radio and not a scary, virus-catching computer. The price for the radio is $200, and profits go to NPR. Or you could buy a $200 iPod and do an App Store search for “radio”.

Product page [NPR]

*We know that The “Radio” in NPR Radio is redundant. If you’re going to point that out in a comment, don’t. Just go outside and try to make some friends instead.