As someone who is interested in doing radio production, you may have thought about having your own studio to record music or to do voice-over work. Just a few years ago this required an investment of thousands of dollars to get started, and there was a big difference between professional-quality digital audio devices and "prosumer," or home, devices. In the intervening years, the difference in audio quality disappeared, and the cost for equipment to produce professional-quality audio plummeted.

I am reminded of the recent story of a person with several projects at the editing and mixing stages in their home studio in Florida. Along came Hurricane Ivan. This person backed up his client's audio files, packed his laptop computer in his car, and took off for high ground. When the hurricane passed he returned to find the house still there, but he had no power or utility services.

The individual's clients had deadlines to meet, and they were depending on him. This person picked up a car power converter and set up shop in his car. Call it a stroke of genius. It was a nice quiet place; it had comfortable seating, and it had something else that few people had in the hurricane ravaged area—air conditioning! Using the laptop and a pair of high quality headphones, he mixed the client's projects and completed everything on time from the front seat of his car. The digital audio didn't care if it was being edited on a big server or a laptop. Data is data.

The success of the "car studio," however, was not so much the equipment. It was the talent of the professional who used the tools he had to accomplish his artistic goals.