Tech Talk: Sometimes digital is not best for consumers

HALFORDS announced in the pre-Christmas rush that it would stop selling analogue car radios in the next two years, in the hope, presumably, of frightening customers into upgrading to digital.

But don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: good old AM and FM are here to stay, at least until well into the next decade.

The last Labour government had originally set next year as the deadline for switching off analogue radio completely, in much the same way they did with TV. Not only is that not now happening, but the current parliament has refused even to set another target – though Ed Vaizey, the Minister responsible for broadcasting, has said vaguely that the future of the medium lies in transmitting digitally.