Not long ago I wrote a column based on the strange drive-by media term being overused on a certain radio program. In reality, the use of this term actually refers to people driving their vehicles while listening to their radios as they pass a specific point.

Now let’s take this idea and give some real meaning to the concept of drive-by radio listening. Let’s just visualize the concept of a device in a van parked along a busy street or highway. The device in the back of this van would monitor each vehicle as it drove by and record both the time and the frequency (AM or FM) was being listened to by those traveling folks. Thus, the radio stations (AM and FM) would have a better concept as to exactly what the drive-by folks were really listening to.

Then again, maybe a permanent device or detector could be placed on a utility pole or on the side wall of a building facing the street or highway. The results could be transmitted to a central office in the city or elsewhere on a daily or weekly basis. There all the results could be combined to really determine the area’s favorite radio stations and programs.

Back in the hazy past, I recall reading about a device being developed for the recording of gas, electric and water meters from a vehicle. Instead of walking from place to place and coping with sometimes wild weather conditions, the meter reader would just drive by the residence or business and point a device in the general direction of the meter to obtain the necessary numbers. These numbers would be fed into a computer at the firm’s office together with the specific address to produce a statement.

Somehow this remote reading device for meter reading hasn’t quite evolved. The numbers indicating the monthly or quarterly usage on the area gas, electrical and water meters are still being recorded by folks walking by instead of driving by.

This drive-by concept could also be used to determine what folks are watching on their television sets.

One of those goofy checkout periodical publications had a sensational article years ago which said a system was nearly ready to be used to check out what channel folks were watching on their television sets. This was back in the era when most areas of the nation were getting several channels rather well, several more channels fairly well, and a few that were 98 percent snowy or mighty dim. The article said the detector would be mounted in a vehicle which would drive by buildings in the city to scientifically monitor and record what channel folks were watching. This information would be compiled and relayed to the sponsors; supposedly the television stations.

I’m not aware that this gadget ever became a reality. Now, with all the many cable and satellite channels available, such a device would really have to be able to perform quite a miracle to sort through all those television outlets.

However, I did have one encounter with a drive-by situation involving one of my television sets a few years ago. A man came to the back door of my home and announced rather aggressively that he was from the cable company. He had been driving around the neighborhood looking for a defective connection on a television set. He said this bad connection would cause serious communications problems for aircraft flying over Albert Lea. And that bad television was determined, according to his detector, to be in my home.

This man clearly indicated he had the right to come into my home to correct this problem. I had two televisions hooked up to the cable system a few months earlier, so I let him come in. He fooled around with the cable connection on the back of one of the sets, then left. The alleged problem, he said, was solved.

Afterward, I thought there were two things wrong with this scenario. First, I wondered if the man was really from the cable company. Next time something like this happens, I’ll ask for an ID, and also check with the company. Second, the connections for both television sets had been made by a technician from the cable company.

Ed Shannon’s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.