Date:         Thu, 26 Jun 2003 23:51:30 -0400
Reply-To:     caverat <caverat@ATTBI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         caverat <caverat@ATTBI.COM>
Subject:      RE - Free Sirius satellite radio system - FM isn't free anymore
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

--FM... FREEquency Modulation. Available in 99% of the country. Backed up by
--tape players and CD players.

--12 bucks a month? For NPR and the seven millionth playing of "Stairway to
--Heaven"? 60 channels of canned music?

--Better than FM?

--Ummm, no thanks.

Time has proven over and over again people will pay for better service/quality and they are especially willing to spend money on entertainment, even in difficult times.  The same things being said about satellite radio today were said about cable/satellite TV (do you still use a rabbit ears antenna and only get free local TV?), bottled water (most people can get free water from a faucet, right?), and coffee ($3-4 for a Starbucks coffee when it is free at home/office?).  Until now, people out in the sticks never had the same radio station choices as people in the city, and people in the city now can only usually choose from five or six main advertiser-friendly formats.  How many radio stations will you get camping or driving out in the middle of nowhere?  Certainly nowhere near the 100 digital and static-free ones I'm getting now, anywhere I'm at in the USA.  Twenty minutes of commercials an hour and annoying DJs is the price you are paying for free FM and corporate marketing controlled playlists that feature the same songs over and over again.  While you are listening to your free commercials or the Backstreet Boys or the same CD for the umpteenth time, I'm laughing my ass off at uncensored Eddie Murphy,  tapping my feet to some twangy banjo-heavy bluegrass, or jamming to some Stevie Ray Vaughn or some other great artist I'll never hear on any corporate FM station anywhere at anytime.  For less than the price of one of your CDs, I'm listening to a month's worth of great music I have forgotten about or new artists I never would have heard otherwise.  Sirius has hundreds of thousands of different songs to offer and surprise me with (that's the best part of the service, the surprise factor that makes you appreciate good music again), how many songs do you have in your CD collection?  To each his own, but I didn't even bother to reprogram my local FM stations into my radio after I disconnected the power to hook up my satellite radio, I like it that much.  As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.  Satellite radio won't replace your favorite CDs, but you will likely find that you don't want to spend as much time listening to them since your only other alternative will no longer be free commercial FM or silence.  I can assure you that Sirius satellite radio is not FM or canned music and you can't even begin to compare free FM to it.  Anyone that has it would say the same.  But don't believe me, check out the Listen Now links for any of the 60 the music stations at www.sirius.com and hear it for yourself.  Most people don't like the ideal of paying for something they can get for free and feel the same as you, but it doesn't matter as far as their business model is concerned since eventually enough people will to make it profitable.  Most people won't even consider getting satellite radio until they find out one day that it is standard equipment in their vehicles and the service price has been included in the purchase/lease price (that's the grand plan of the satellite radio providers and auto manufacturers - one day you probably won't even have a choice - you can get a lifetime receiver-based subscription for $399 today, a price easy to bury in a $20K+ car or 3 year lease).  VW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mercedes Benz, BMW,  Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Porsche, Jaguar, Dodge, Audi, Jeep, Mazda, Volvo, Winnebago, etc. are all on board with this new technology, have collectively spent/invested hundreds of millions of dollars getting ready for it, have already announce various levels of initial commitment for it (i.e., factory/dealer installs in specific model lines/years), and see it as a way to increase their revenue after the car leaves the lot since they will get a piece of the subscription pie.  Not many people know that Sirius is available today as a dealer-installed option at all Chrsyler, Dodge, and Jeep dealers nationwide, or that Hertz is aggressively installing it in their rental cars at many of their more popular major airport locations (33 markets and 28 vehicle models by July as announced in a recent press release).  Satellite radio will become what FM was in the seventies, the most significant change in audio broadcast technology in years.  This will happen whether or not you decide to get it for yourself.

BTW - I haven't heard Stairway to Heaven yet, but I have heard a lot of other Led Zeppelin songs that I had forgotten about (Misty Mountain Hop, Dazed and Confused,  Communication Breakdown, Custard Pie, Kashmir, and more).  The Sirius stream "The Vault" specializes in those B-side songs off of great albums that were not the "hits" played at the time long ago when FM was worth listening to.  You know, the songs you will never hear on any free radio station or ever again if you don't own the album.

Look on the bright side, at least you can get the equipment for free.  The savings there are worth a whole year's subscription price and then some.  If you don't like it, sell it on ebay and come out ahead a year from now.  Be warned though, would you really want to go back to free TV if you are used to cable/satellite TV?  The same comparison will apply once you try it.

caverat

89 westy
Satellite radio fanatic and stockholder