1994.fm is a virtual radio for the 1990s. And because it's a side project on top of a side project, it’s a bit weird. You listen from the perspective of the passenger in a pixel-esque Firebird on an endless desert highway. The car and its radio is the interface: six presets, two knobs, and a dial that lets you time-travel anywhere from 1990 to 1999.

The app uses the listener's streaming service to do the actual streaming, but Apple Music is the only service that really lets you do that. Spotify, despite (or because of) being the market leader, is deeply hostile to developers…

This (stupid) side project is of course clanked out with AI, and it served as a really useful test lever on some other much more interesting side projects that I’m working on.

One final thought - as AI increasingly becomes the only way we build software, our relationship to the craft of making software is changing dramatically. I’ve had strong mixed feelings about sharing this out. On the one hand, if bots write all of the code, then why give a shit about any of these projects anymore? On the other hand, the craft still matters: it comes from our expertise, judgement, taste - and most importantly - the act of giving a shit, over and over, until something interesting happens.

Enjoy! And for those who want to learn more about how it all works I’ve written up a detailed report here: https://cannoneyed.com/projects/1994-dot-fm