A few new software packages that record Internet radio make that possible.
They all aim to be "TiVo for radio," but the comparison is not quite deserved -- none of them is as easy to use as a TiVo.
But if you're a radio fan, or getting bored of the same old songs on your iPod, Radiotime ($39.99 for one year), Magix Webradio Recorder ($29.99), or Replay Radio ($49.99) are worth a shot, particularly Replay Radio.
Radiotime does sell an optional receiver for over-the-air radio for an extra $20, but the main use of all three programs we tested is to record streaming Internet radio.
For this, you don't need extra hardware.
The gist of the programs is this: you select which shows to record through a built-in program guide.
You really need a broadband connection for this to work -- it would be a hassle to make sure a dial-up connection is established every time you want to record something, and in any case, dial-up connections aren't fast enough.
It has an extensive program guide, which it claims has 25,000 shows.
Like the TiVo, but unlike the other radio recorders, it allows the user to schedule recordings from another computer.
Radiotime recorded domestic shows fine for me but trying to record a BBC historical show yielded a broadcast of some mysterious British sport, probably cricket.
Radiotime's interface is also the most confusing of the three.
It has a 2,000-channel program guide but the selection is haphazard, with a large proportion of foreign stations, a symptom of the software's German origin.
_ Replay Radio is the winner in this test, mainly by virtue of its simple interface.
It's also the only program that helps you find the addresses, or URLs, for audio feeds you want.