
Why The Public Radio is sixty dollars (2018) - zdw
http://pencerw.com/feed/2018/11/21/why-its-sixty-dollars
======
StevePerkins
This product just seems... like a throwback to the first decade of this
century.

A time when we rebelled against over-advertised, and over-priced Gillette
Fusion cartridges. Not by growing beards (that would come in the 2010's). But
rather by shaving with $100 German double-edge razors, badger hair brushes,
and artisial shaving soaps instead.

This here is a cheap pocket radio, like you could find at Walmart for $5.
Except that it is built to tune into only one frequency, it has no headphone
jack, and its form-factor is a old-timey mason jar. It's "artisanal", and
"locally-sourced" and all that, and it does look like a pretty conversation
piece. But do people still gravitate to stuff like this?

I'm asking from genuine curiosity, because I'm not sure whether the "hipster"
era faded away, or if it's still there and I just grew a little too old?

~~~
pencerw
(Note: I co-created this product, wrote this blog post, etc)

Your skepticism is something I hear a lot, and something I make it a rule not
to argue with. A lot of people look at The Public Radio with disdain, and at
least as many look at it without any emotional reaction at all (which is
arguably worse). This was never meant to be a mass market product, and it's
okay that not everyone likes it.

I will say, however, that our customer base might not be as young, bearded,
and IPA-drinking as you might expect. We do sell a lot to Brooklyn (I live in
Brooklyn; Kickstarter is in Brooklyn; etc) but one of our biggest customers to
date is KUER, which is Utah's NPR affiliate. We've also sold large orders to a
pop station in Singapore, an Orthodox Jewish community radio station in New
Jersey, and to someone's grandma in rural Nebraska who makes mason jars into
light fixtures that look like fireflies (one of our first customers, back in
~early 2014).

As to whether the market's going away: As I mentioned in another comment, I'm
continuously surprised when I see The Public Radio in the wild and can say
without reservation that we have sold _way_ more of these things than I ever
expected. And if it were someone else's creation, there's a good chance that
I'd look at it with furrowed brows as well.

~~~
gautamcgoel
I really admire this respectful and level-headed comment. I think your product
is neat, keep it up!

~~~
pencerw
Wow, internet compliment of the year. Thanks!

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imglorp
The price is a good conversation about globalizing supply chains.

But what's really cool is they have a way to program radios which are sealed
inside a cardboard shipping box, without batteries installed.

[https://wp.josh.com/2017/03/18/capacitive-coupling-
casestudy...](https://wp.josh.com/2017/03/18/capacitive-coupling-casestudy-
programming-the-public-radio-without-removing-it-from-its-sealed-shipping-
box/)

~~~
pencerw
Yeah, Josh's method of tuning The Public Radio is _super_ cool. We never
actually implemented it in production, but our manufacturing line is in some
ways even cooler (it's fully just-in-time) and is remarkably advanced for a FM
radio in a mason jar :) I wrote it up in a separate blog post here:
[http://pencerw.com/feed/2018/2/8/the-public-radios-
assembly-...](http://pencerw.com/feed/2018/2/8/the-public-radios-assembly-
fulfillment-processes)

------
arbuge
The key part seems to be this:

> In other words: We’re making a piece of consumer electronics just-in-time in
> the US.

It is indeed hard to bring down costs that way, but when each unit needs to be
individually programmed, as in this situation, this is a sensible way of doing
it.

This is also a good way to do low volume production in general for hardware
side-projects and the like. My own Relay
([https://foundrytechnologies.com/relay.php](https://foundrytechnologies.com/relay.php))
is made in the same way - the components come from China but the assembly and
firmware upload is done in the US. This also keeps the firmware confidential,
which works well for IP protection. For higher volumes, I'd think we'd
eventually move the assembly offshore, but not the firmware upload.

~~~
kennywinker
I'm constantly surprised that people aren't more alarmed at how much china
owns the supply chain. It's virtually impossible to make electronics without
at VERY LEAST buying components from china. Seems like a lot of power in their
hands.

For example, I'm deeply uncomfortable with doing business with china because
of the million Uyghurs in concentration camps - but if I want to buy simple
passive electronic components to populate a circuit board I've got no other
choice?

------
lxe
I am impressed if this business works. You're selling something for $60 with
the same functionality as something I can get on Alibaba $0.30-$1 per unit.
And the people are buying it because of all the artificial restrictions.

~~~
pencerw
(Note: I co-created the product, manage the business that produces it, and
wrote the original blog post)

In many ways I'd say the answer is still in flux. On the one hand this is a
part-time business that has not, by any means, made either myself or my
partner rich. On the other hand, we sold our first units in 2014 and are in
continuous production today. It's a weird side business to have, but we've
figured out a way to make it fit into our careers/lives.

In other words, I'm continuously surprised that The Public Radio continues to
be a _thing_ and am always slightly shocked when I see one in the wild. And
it's nice to have something like that.

------
vyrotek
For those confused as I was, you can switch the current station but it's not
convenient or meant to be done often. You can basically disassemble the radio
and press a button to cycle through available FM stations and leave it on the
one you want.

Why this button isn't just available on the lid is beyond me. While I do
appreciate simplicity I really don't understand the value of a single station
radio either.

> [https://www.thepublicrad.io/faq](https://www.thepublicrad.io/faq)

~~~
pencerw
Hey! Co-inventor of the product (and author of the link) here.

The reason that the button isn't on the lid is because that makes the lid
uglier and, more importantly, undermines the philosophy behind the UI - which
is to keep the device as absolutely simple as possible. The idea came from my
partner (Zach Dunham) and was inspired partly by Radiolab's 2008 episode,
"Choice" \- it's a bit of a deep cut but I recommend listening to it and
thinking a little bit about how choice functions in the FM radio world (which
is, obviously, competing with Spotify & podcasts) today.

Also note that we developed the product in ~2013, when everyone in the
hardware scene in NYC was all into IoT and making everything bluetooth. I
think there was part of us that believed that IoT (and connecting _everything_
to the internet) was misguided and that having a long term relationship with a
local news/radio source (which for me is Hot 97, but for most of our customers
is their local NPR affiliate) is actually really cool/powerful/valuable.

Lastly, you should note that a _lot_ of our business now comes from selling
The Public Radio to radio stations (again, mostly NPR affiliates) to give out
as fund drive gifts. For obvious reasons, having a single-channel radio is
attractive to both the station managers and their donating listeners.

~~~
greenyoda
> Lastly, you should note that a lot of our business now comes from selling
> The Public Radio to radio stations (again, mostly NPR affiliates) to give
> out as fund drive gifts.

Here in NYC, we have two NPR-affiliated public radio stations that often play
different content, WNYC AM and WNYC FM, and their parent organization also
runs WQXR (a classical music station) and NJ public radio. So even if you only
listen to public radio (like I do), an untunable FM-only radio wouldn't be
enough. ("Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.")

My ideal "simple" radio would be one that worked like my car radio: you can
preset any number of AM/FM stations and then select them with forward/backward
buttons. (And once you have a display that can indicate the station, it would
be sad if it couldn't also be an alarm clock.)

~~~
reaperducer
_Here in NYC_

There are hundreds of other markets in the United States than New York City
(and tens of thousands worldwide), and the vast majority of them have just one
public radio station.

This isn't a "public radio tuner." It's a single station tuner.

------
zw123456
I think it would be a good promotional gift for public radio pledge drives.

~~~
dredmorbius
Apparently it is:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21108556](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21108556)

------
charliesome
This is an interesting post from the perspective of logistics operations for a
small scale consumer electronics product.

I'm fascinated by the idea that one of the features they chose to cut from
their initial release - arbitrary tuning - has ended up significantly
constraining how they can manufacture their product at their scale.

I'm guessing that there's a deeper philosophical reason for not building an
end-user tunable radio that isn't simply "it's a feature we decided to cut so
we could ship on time"

------
Aloha
I'm an avid radio listener, literally every room in my house with a power
outlet has one or more tabletop radios in it. Why would I want a radio that
only tunes to one channel?

I tend to use vintage (80's era) clock radios at home for my tabletop radios,
because of their decent pricing.

~~~
pstuart
Maybe you're not the target market. I only listen to radio in the car, so I'm
not that market either.

That said, it's a brilliant idea and I can see the appeal to many who _do_
listen to one public station all day.

~~~
Aloha
I mean I do only listen to one station all day, I virtually never change the
station, but I like the ability to do so.

