What is Digg?193 Comments
- RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -5/+37I've been listening to my iPod in my car for a year now and let me say that I can't go back to radio. The cheesy commercials, the annoying DJs, the crappy music...my ears are bleeding just thinking about it.
- EmileVictor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30What I don't understand is why Aux jacks haven't been put in more car radios.
I mean, it's not a novel concept. It's been around for years. My grandmother's peugeot's radio (old and outdated) has a minijack input for walkmans which you can also use with ipods. Why are all the inputs at the *back* of the radio, when all you want is for them to be accessible? - noliberalbull, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23I work in radio, and have grown up in it all my life (my father manages and has dj'd for 30+ years now.) Satellite radio comes up all the time in coversations, but nobody I talk to is scared of it having any effect on terrestrial radio stations. But they are all scared to death of iPods and such devices. Hard drives full of you own music in the car commercial free... any radio station is going to have a tough time competing with that. And while CD's and cassettes and 8tracks and such have been around for years without a devastating effect, mp3 players take it to a while new level.
- david76, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20iPod and satellite radio are totally different. To really get the same type of functionality out of an iPod ala podcasting, you need to be a bit more technologically savvy and actually invest time in getting your "experience" setup. Satellite radio is much more like terrestrial radio, but w/o all the commercials and with an incredibly wider selection.
I received a Sirius satellite radio as a gift and first thought "oh, so now I have to get this installed (I ended up installing it myself), and pay $12 per month. It's the gift that keeps on costing." But after using it during my 3 hour round-trip daily commute I couldn't imagine not having it. Whenever my car was in the shop for service I would have to revert to terrestrial radio. I had forgotten what blathering idiots there are on the morning shows on most stations. It is definitely worth the expense.
Oh, I also have an iPod which I used in the car before the satellite radio. Let's just say trying to find music to play while driving down the NJ Turnpike at 80 at night isn't exactly safe. :) - 1nd1g0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep have also been putting on aux. jacks in 2006, 2007 models.
- sTiVo, on 10/12/2007, -8/+21"Whatever" is just your opinion, man.
Two years ago I canceled sat radio and ran everything off my iPod. I recorded radio shows thru my internet connection using Replay Radio and being able to download podcasts thru iTunes just sealed the deal. - BladeMelbourne, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14iPod Video killed the radio star...
- sTiVo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I always laugh when someone states somthing, says "End of story", and then follows it by 5 paragraphs.
- FKnight, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17Yeah because no one listenst to live radio anymore. "potentially devastating." Whatever.
- WiseWeasel, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15Yeah, personally, I couldn't give a rat's ass about radio, either terrestrial or satellite. I used to have to juggle CDs in my car stereo, and now have a proper iPod connector with full steering wheel integration, and I'm never considering a car without that capability. It has completely revolutionized commuting for me. If radio content producers want to keep reaching an audience, they had better have a podcast available in iTunes...
- neverender, on 10/12/2007, -10/+20Not scared of satellite radio having an affect on terrestrial radio? Have you ever listened to satellite radio? It is far superior. Terrestrial radio is a dinosaur, satellite radio is the comet.
Sure, i have an aux jack in my car for use with my ipod, but, sometimes i don't feel like playing DJ. Other times i just want to hear something i would never discover on my own. Truth is, I love having both options.
The article is an asinine attack on satellite radio ignoring terrestrial and reads like my grandfather trying to explain "that crazy interweb" to a teenager. - DJS2005, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13"the only reason it's better is because you can see the track info on your little player"
Uh and it's digital... oh and there are like 300 channels , oh oh and you can pick it up anywhere except in a tunnel .... but yeah it's the same thing ...
Now let's talk Sat TV , ever notice how it's the same as rabbit ears? - chris4404, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13It won't kill Satellite radio, example Howard Stern on Sirius or Opie and Anthony on XM. Your paying for more then just music your paying for exclusive content.
- siestaguy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Yes, I felt this would be the case when podcasts became available. I cancelled my XM Radio subscription after finding that I could get all the audio programming I want for free.
- jtrost, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9This is nothing new. Anyone who wants to listen to their iPod in their car already does.
- andreo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10@david76:
I have to agree with David. I also had the iPod setup with a iTrip FM tuner. So I was able to move it into rental cars when I was out of town. Very nice setup, but there is something about the randomness of a live radio feed that you miss after awhile.
So I think of the iPod in the car as more of a replacement for putting music on CD or cassette then I do as a replacement for Satellite or even free radio. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Who writes this load of bull? People just have more options. Sat is great for content you won't get anywhere else.
The better question would have been "will MP3 players kill sat radio" .......They all plug in the same. Even then it would have made for a STUPID article. - joel8x, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I've got a 2006 Scion xA and it has an XM receiver as well as iPod integration. I spend a lot of time in my car and I love having both options. I listed to the Sat radio for talk radio (O&A, Ron & Fez) most of the time, and switch over to the iPod during commercials (the talk stations have commercials - who could talk for 5 hours straight without pissing??). I also have some music stations that I enjoy on XM, such as Fungus - a great outlet to get exposed to new music that terrestrial radio would never touch. I have never listed to FM or AM in my car in the year I have owned it.
The point is that choice is a great thing, and if tape decks and CD players didn't kill traditional radio, iPods will not kill satellite radio. - Ryosen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@noliberalbull
25 years ago, when the Walkman came out, flipping the cassette was a small price to pay for taking your music with you.
Now, get off my lawn! - adam.skinner, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I purchased a car stereo with an aux-in to accept "headphone" output from my MP3 player. I'm not locked into an ipod only format (which of course these integrated models will be). My musical tastes (and listening habits) are not diverse enough to warrant satellite radio.
- slartybardfast, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9"point is, people, by far and in large, dont like PAYING for something they can get for free."
Great. Tell me where (without paying), I can get 4 jazz music stations that play jazz 24 hours without commericials no matter where I drive. I'd love to switch. Right now, sat is the only place. You can't even do this in the biggest radio markets in America. - primehifi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I've had both an ipod and a sat radio (sirius) for a couple years. I wouldn't ditch either of them. I use the sirius on my way to work and around the city. Nothing (not even podcasts) will take away the exclusivity of live radio. Nothing (not even podcasts) will take away the choice in shows with good production value (ie: not 16 yr old podcasters talking about last nights football game, does not compare to espn). When do I use my ipod? When I'm going to be driving for a long time, like on a highway, and I know i could get through an entire comedy routine or entire album. But If I am in and out of the car, it is sirius all the way.
As someone else said, I don't want to update my ipod every day. I don't want to update it every week even. Sometimes, my ipod doesn't plug into my cpu for a month. Sirius is there to provide an outlet to discover new music and a random and unexpected playlist of stuff you may know and already like.
The ipod isn't the easiest thing to change songs on while goin 70 down the highway. Even on shuffle, you will end up falling into the audiobook or podcast hole (i'm not spending 10 hrs going through manually disableing every book/cast from being in shuffle).
They both have their place. This is like TV. vs. a Movie. With tv, you have some general idea of what you may end up watching. You discover new shows and find old ones. It has access to up to the minute news, weather and sports, but sometimes you don't always get what you exactly want. Movies, like ipods, generally give you exactly what you want. You could watch half a movie, such as listening to half a music album or comedy routine, but, you will enjoy it more if you listen to it all.
Movies didn't make tv disappear and neither will iPods make radio (sat/ter) disappear. - ZenPirate, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12iPod + Podcasts + car = iDrive Happy
- DarthBeer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8You can podcast talk radio though.
There is only one talk show that I listen to in the AM that I listen to live, and I only do that cause its not available via podcast. - drgruney, on 10/12/2007, -12/+17I don't think this spells doom for satellite radio services... XM and Sirrius will kill eachother before other market pressures do. However, I do have and love my XM radio. It was given to me as a gift, I had the choice iPod or XM. Didn't want the iPod because I didn't want to pay for every song I listened to. Someone will say "but you could buy 10 songs a month instead!" while that's true, I'd wrather have the whole XM library than 10 songs on repeat ad nauseum. As for that jackass above complaining about his XM not needing a new battery after 6 months, someone should tell him that there are rechargable XMs. I had to replace the battery one mine, dead batteries are just a way of life.
It all comes down to who wants what. I see the majority of new car buyers (over 30) wanting a satellite radio before they want an iPod. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -20/+25"Have you ever listened to satellite radio? It is far superior."
If by superior you mean it sounds like a 16Kbps real audio stream. - Hoffer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I've got Sirius in my Explorer and I also have a 60 gig iPod. I don't have iPod integration, but even if I did, I'd use Sirius more.
- Wavey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5For me, satellite radio is a first means to an end -- which is my iPod. What I mean is, I listen to XM radio in order to be exposed to stuff that *I hadn't heard yet.* If I like it enough, I'll go out and get it, or download it from a music store, and put it on my iPod.
My iPod only holds music that I already own and have already heard. (I'm discounting podcasts here, because they're not really a means to get new high-quality music -- they don't really measure up.)
So, it's apples (no pun intended) and oranges to me. I've discovered so much good stuff listening to satellite radio. People here have tried to make the point that people don't like to pay for stuff that they can get for free. That's true, but you can't really get the same thing as sat radio for free. If you're trying to compare sat radio to the regular FM stations, that's a laughable comparison. I gave up on regular commercial AM and FM radio a loooong time ago, even before sat radio existed.
As soon as big corporations took over the FM airwaves and DJs weren't allowed to play whatever they wanted, instead chained to the whims of program directors and marketing fools in pinstripe suits, I stopped listening. I don't have any illusions that XM radio is heavily analyzed and marketed in much the same manner, but the big advantages are (a) no commercials (b) an extremely wide selection and (c) a whole lot more leeway in what is played -- even if it is calculated beforehand and not spontaneously chosen by the DJ himself. Actually, there some places on XM where the DJ does pretty much have free reign -- such as Tom Petty's "Buried Treasure" show, where he just plays whatever the hell he feels like. Gotta love stuff like that. It feels like when I was a kid, going over to friends' houses and spinning LPs and 45s, seeing what the B-sides sounded like, etc. Fun stuff.
So, XM is a means of discovery for me, and my iPod is basically a means of "archival," so to speak. - Ryosen, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8In the comparison of satellite to digital radio: I would much rather pay $10 a month for commercial-free music (I have Sirius), than have to listen to 10-minute blocks of commercials and station fillers, boring, unintersting, generic-sounding DJs, and "morning zoos". Digital radio will never offer the broad range of content that satellite does. I'm in the NY and Philadelphia markets and there is a dismal amount of genres to choose from. With 1/2 of the stations dedicated to "urban" markets, the options are fewer.
Commercial radio will never be able to offer such a broad range of genres because it won't be financially viable. The reason that the satellite companies can offer 2 blues, 5 country, 30 talk channels, a classical station for each period and style, the reason is that the cost of the stations are aggregated across the entire company. Since they are not concerned about having to sell advertising or gain sponsorships and donations (ala NPR and public broadcast), they don't have that barrier to entry to introduce a new station. This is also why you don't get bombarded with Top 20 stations on satellite. It is just not economically feasible for a terrestial radio station to attemp this.
As for iPods killing off terrestial radio, they said the same thing when the Sony Walkman cassette player came out. And radio did just fine. - Bodero, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10For me, it was the contrary. I got sick of constantly updating my iPod with new music when my tastes changed or when I got sick of the same old songs. I'm not paid to be a DJ, so I got XM Radio and haven't looked back.
Besides, you can't put live talk radio on an iPod. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Stern's an old douche that gets a half billion over five years to whine on sirius four days a week. Hoo hoo hoo, tell em Fred.
- noliberalbull, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7"As for iPods killing off terrestial radio, they said the same thing when the Sony Walkman cassette player came out. And radio did just fine."
I covered that in the parent post... having a tape or two worth of music that one has to fast forward and flip and such is incomparable to having 20+GB of music at your fingertips, and the advent of podcasts ads another twist. I'm not saying its gonna kill terrestrial either, but that is what, if anything, radio people worry about. Not satellite - sundancekid503, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7I don't see why one has to kill the other. Having both is a great thing. Satellite radio is nice if you do long trips where you'd never be able to stay on one terrestrial station, and great for the sheer variety. Even with 5000 songs on your iPod it still lacks that purely random "hey I've never heard this song" quality.
In this day and age I say both are the way to go. Neither can "replace" the other. - FinishdLawSkool, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I thought that the RIAA was killing satellite radio...
- kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4 I have an Ipod and Sirius radio. FIve years ago I had a cd player and an AM/FM radio. It is possible to have both.
- alwaysmc2, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11@ drgruney
But there's a third option. There are iPods, satellite radios, and Plays For Sure compatible devices. With my Creative Zen Vision I can sign up for the URGE music service, download as much music as I want, and pay only $15 a month. (If I pay by the year I get two months free per year.) People say, "Oh, but when you stop paying all the music goes away!" But it's the same way with satellite radio, but with a service like URGE I get to choose what exactly plays. I can even tell it to download music that I like automatically. - fauxXenophanes, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7The iPod was a great step along the way to portable, satellite radios w/built-in drives. Constant streaming content, 24/7, save what you want. It's definitely got a static drive beat.
- graystar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5How about adding wifi so you can upload music/podcasts to your car while it is in the garage etc?
Also a file sharing client so you can look at other peoples music whilst stuck in traffic in cars around you? - Ryosen, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Now that Stern is streaming his broadcasts, you can shift them to your iPod without a problem. If you can't get access to the beta streaming program, there are plenty of folks out there that are already "shifting" it for you and putting it online. If you're already paying for the subscription, there should be no moral argument against downloading it.
- TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5All I want is a car stereo that could read data DVDs. Imagine having a disk with gigs of mp3s and the convenience of a CD.
Also just about all car replacement stereos come with a IPod interface and a remote. No one has to buy a new car to get these features. - david76, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7@xshaisu
That depends a lot on how you have it hooked up. I originally had mine connected via tape-adapter, and it sounded ok. I then ran wires to the CD-changer plug in the trunk via an adapter which provided 2 RCA jacks and the sound quality was much improved.
Is it as clear as a CD, no. But I think the benefit of a couple hundred channels outweighs the difference in sound quality. - JakeWalker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6"what is it, 7 mil combined between the two companies, and shrinking... "
Uh ... no actually. Both Sirius and XM are growing (though XM has slowed its growth projections, it is still growing, and Sirius continues to increase its growth projections... and combined they have over 12 million subscribers already. - Ryosen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Not DVD-Rs, but they do have CD-R players in-dash. I've had one for about 3 years and it's great. One CD holds about 10 albums at 128kbs. I've done 8 hour car trips never having to switch the disc. Bliss.
- ...---..., on 10/12/2007, -1/+3for people complaining about the 12$ a month for the price of sattelite radio - think of it like this:
If you could have a coin slot installed in your regular old terrastrial radio - and for maybe 40 cents for a 24 hour period - you could stick the coins in the slot and all of the commercials and garbage went away, your channel selection and contect tripled and your reception remained rock solid wherever you drove - would you feed the coins into your radio or would that 40 cents be too much of a burden to recieve that kind of service? - ...---..., on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"point is, people, by far and in large, dont like PAYING for something they can get for free."
Oh - so people would rather use their rabbit ear antennas and pick up local TV stations for free instead of paying for something like CABLE? That makes sense...
People will gladly pay for better content, selection and quality. Example - broadband... who wats dial up anymore - sure it's cheaper - there's even free alternatives. But, "BY FAR AND IN LARGE" people prefer to pay for the more expensive, better quality product.
I think the same thing is happening with sattelite radio - if you combine subscribers of both XM and Sirius there's probably about 10 - 15 million customers. Granted, that's not a majority of terrestrial radio listeners but it's a significant number. And, if you talk to anyone who owns sattelite radio - they love it and hate the thought of having to go back to listening to boring old garbage radio.
That said, I have Sirius and an iPod - they don't compete with each other. I listen to both of them every day. I agree that the iPod is a threat to terrestrial radio but don't think it will affect sattelite. I mean, people are listening to iPods in their cars because they don't want to listen to the mind numbing about of blather and commercials on terrerstrial radio. Sattelite radio satiates that same desire. - Jozer99, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I still haven't discovered a good reason to get a satilite radio. They cost as much as an iPod, but you still have to pay monthly for them, and they aren't "portable" in the sense that you can only take it as far as your car's antenna, speakers, and battery will reach. I suppose it would be worth it if the music were really great, but so far I have been unimpressed. Howard Stern? I can get my fill of crude radio hosts on my local alternative station. Snoop? Same dizzle. Musicwise, when I have listened in the past, I have been disapointed. True, the music is crystal clear, ad-free, and close enough to CD quality for my ears, but the selection sounds no different than what is on my local station. The oldies station still plays those two $#%#$ Door's songs over and over, the Alternative stations are still playing pop, and who really wants to spend all their time listening to the 80's. On the other hand, my iPod is loaded with several weeks worth (at 24 hours a day) of my favorite music. With an power adapter for your car you don't need to worry about battery life, even if you don't, modern iPods get at least 15 hours, which is more than I would ever drive in a day.
A lot of older stereos have an extra input, but it is in the back of the stereo. However, a little do-it-your-selfing and a trip to radioshack can build you an adapter for your ipod. People with stereos with no back input can buy a cheap new stereo with a front mounted 1/4" jack for less than $100 including installation at Circuit City. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Canada.com is owned by Global, who are one of Canada's re-broadcasters of American TV shows. They are vehemently opposed to Sirius and XM because of their own (quite terrible) FM stations. They tried (but failed) to stop Sirius and XM launching in Canada.
AUX in have been in car radios for years. This is just one of the monthly anti-satellite radio tirades canada.com puts out in an attempt to turn back time.. - MilitantRabbit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I got an iPod in March '05. I listened to it wherever I went (but not in the car). Then I got an XM portable, and now I don't even take the iPod out of my room.
Upside: Variety, no commercials, O&A, R&F, No Howard Stern
Downside: No J-pop - superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Part of the point of the article is that the new vehicles offer things like steering-wheel control over the iPod, so if a podcast comes up on shuffle you just skip without your hands ever leaving the wheel. That's what makes the situation potentially different over people just using FM or tape adaptors to listen to the iPod today.
I also do not see what live radio has over a good podcast. It can be as good, even though I agree currently there are not a lot of podcasts with good production value. But if you look there are some for just about any interest and they have everything that makes a live show great. - FrankieB078, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Are you kidding me? I own both an iPod and Sirius Satellite Radio and I use my radio WAY MORE than my iPod, ever. My iPod is only used to store classic Stern shows, all of my favorite music and some Coast to Coast podcasts, for use while on long road trips or excersizing. The radio is much more convienent because if I am using my iPod, but for some reason I want to hear comedy, well I have 4-6 channels of that at any given time on Sirius. I am feeling some jazz or classical? I have neither of that on my iPod.
Satellite radio > iPod.
I still love my iPod though. -
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