Television may be leading the way in the development of digital broadcasting, hastening the day when we'll have 57 (570?) channels and nothing on. But without any special technical innovation dedicated to the task, with little money invested and in a form that's already accessible to a vast number of listeners, radio is actually way, way ahead of television when it comes to bringing audiences a world of choice.
That's "choice" in the precise meaning of the word, not in marketing-speak. And, surprise, surprise, that's "world" as in World Wide Web.
RTE listeners already know something about radio on the Internet. Understandably, RTE is keen to let us know that our far-flung loved ones can keep in touch with home via www.rte.ie, and a helluva lot less eager to tell us about the thousands of other stations we could be listening to on our PCs.
Yes, listening to radio via the Internet involves being connected to the Internet, and that can be a costly proposition. However, those costs are falling, and if you time your access hours prudently - or, better yet, let your employer foot the bill via an office PC, many of which are permanently online these days anyway - it needn't really set you back.
(Workplaces are an especially attractive Net-radio proposition for another reason: radio reception in buildings like this one is not especially good; what with all the electrical equipment and cement walls, only the strongest signals get through.)
It's no secret that the days of the Internet coming into our homes via the TV cable are not at all far away. And, then there's the more distant prospect of cheap, high-quality wireless Internet access . . . Oh, brave new world.
Sceptics who insist that media need some local dimension to maintain listeners' loyalty may have a point. But probably not: look how much of our television viewing is dedicated to British and American programming. Even listeners who, in their cars, tune into the nearest station for news and traffic reports, may well prefer the jazz played on some college station in Louisiana when they get home.
In fairness, the audio available on RTE's website seems nice enough. In addition to the live relay of the broadcast signals from Radio 1 and 2FM, it has extensive programme archives, news reports and even a special Gaybo retrospective. And yes, I know, other stations here, included college ones, have taken to the Net.
For the wider world, a good starting point - once you've downloaded a free copy of RealPlayer G2 from www.real.com, or perhaps paid a bit for a posher version of the sound software - might be at www.radio-directory.com. The site is something of a radio buff's dream, and it leads you to all sorts of station websites - most of which, however, are actually silent. However, follow the links to web-radio.com and you're in business with something like 2,300 stations.
Well, not necessarily in business. As can often happen on the Internet, you'll find yourself staring at little messages about server access and buffering and thinking, "Gee, this has real potential" as opposed to "Damn, that sounds good." You may well think it's worth your while, however, if it means you find the station that actually plays the music you like.
A rather brighter, and perhaps faster, starting point is the more commercially oriented www.broadcast.com. As you move among the station links on its colourful home page, you'll be treated to the real sound of US radio; at every virtual twist of the dial comes this message: "Broadcast-dot-com will bring you the sound of your favourite radio station in just a moment, after a word from our sponsors . . ." Then comes an advertisement, complete with visuals.
You can sound-surf forever. In addition to the live relays from real places, there are many "virtual stations" and recorded programmes available on the Web. The ads on the RealPlayer page can guide you to many of these.
A jukebox site, www.imagineradio.com, lets you programme your own station by genre, or choose from many pre-programmed stations. It includes one enigmatically called "Julie - Alternative Radio for thirty-somethings who think they're twenty-somethings".
I'm more interested in the globetrotting vibe. I visited KCIA, which has nothing to do with spies: it's the station of the California Institute of the Arts, complete with smart-arse home page and very chilled New Age music on its morning (i.e. Irish lunchtime) show.
WPFW, a jazz-oriented station on the great US Pacifica network, wouldn't play for me. WAPS, the station of the Akron, Ohio public-school system - "Where the music matters!" In school? - came through loud and clear.
Louder and clearer are the talk stations, where the sound limitations are irrelevant. On KACL sports radio in Los Angeles the lads went on for 10 minutes about a completely hypothetical trade between the Lakers and Clippers. That's right, there is crap on the radio in every corner of the globe.
Actually, the stations that you find down these Internet roads are, overwhelmingly American; in typically ocean-bound fashion, the sites that guide you around Internet radio divide stations into categories: public, classical, jazz, adult-contemporary, top-40 etc, etc, - and, finally, "International", as if non-US stations can't fall into those other categories.
I did come across one undeterminedly unAmerican station, CIBL in Montreal, Canada. "La Radio Libre!" its site declares. Although it plays lovely music, and while its little icons are accompanied by reassuringly simple French instructions (Ecouteznous . . . Cliquez ici), at first I suspected it of crashing our office computer as part of some obscure Quebecois plot against anglophone PCs.
I've since revised my theory about the crash, and would therefore strongly advise that you read thoroughly and follow all the little instructions that arise in the course of your downloading adventures. And, oh yes, sorry about that, Paula.