It was called the “Golden Age of Radio” in the 1940s and 1950s. Although thoughts recall the radio programing of the day when we hear the term, the equipment itself was also “golden,” so to speak.

The proliferation of Web-based radio stations should mean that a traveler with a modem and a laptop is never without up-to-the-minute news, conversation and music from home. But I found a major flaw ...