Mark, I think you are underestimating the appeal of satellite radio. I have one in my car ever since my wife bought it for me last Christmas. It's been great. For example, in the morning I can listen to the BBC 1 shows instead of one of the lame Toronto radio shows. Why would I want to get up earlier to first download it onto my mp3 player? I can listen to live football (sorry, soccer) through satellite radio.

I love my mp3 player but why would I always want "total control over content"? With total control, I would keep listening to the same old stuff over and over again. I've started to re-discover classic composers by accident through satellite radio. There are some Quebec bands and singers that I would have never heard of otherwise. Why would I want to surf around iTunes or the Web first to take a guess at what I might like? And if I like it, do I really like it enough to pay for the specific song or piece to download it? Sometimes it is okay to listen to it once. And if I really like a song I buy it and put it on my mp3 player.

The car is the perfect place to discover new things without wilfully searching for them. Yes, I too like to hook up the mp3 player and listen to my playlists or a podcast in the car once in a while. But I love the radio because I like to get surprised, and I like the "human factor" of having a DJ. On the Internet, that's why I gave up on Pandora and keep listening to sites like Radio Paradise. In the car, the FM/AM experience is very limited, so the satellite radio is a great option. It is not perfect and there's a lot of room for improvement. But for $15 a month it is pretty good.

It will also be interesting to see if satellite radio will find ways to make portable satellite/mp3 players smaller, better and easier to use. They are getting smaller but it's not there yet. Maybe Apple will add satellite radio to its iPods? That would be a really appealing package.

I disagree, Martin. With 40G of music, I could listen for months and not hear the same song twice. I shuffle, and am constantly surprised. And if I do want a surprise, I can play FM for the 5 minutes a month I need it.

Besides, $15 is just too darned much to pay for the occasional surprise.

I blogged this a while ago, Mark, and it was just after I'd added an iPod connector to the new car's audio. It has killed the CBC for me (poor man's NPR, which I now get on podcasts), and I would never buy satellite. I think conventional and satellite radio have their hands full frankly, and better get their butts in gear making their content IP network ready.

Rob, what is surprising about 40G of the same old, same old? I am only up to 25G on my mp3 player but I don't find it surprising at all because I have heard all the songs before. Maybe I'll buy your argument when Steve Jobs introduces the "Terabyte iPod". And as a podcast fan you are probably ahead of the curve. I'd say most people still use an iPod to store what they love, not to be exposed to surprises.

Our definitions of "surprising" are different. Your kind of 40G surprise sounds like going into an Italian restaurant every day and asking the chef to serve you the "surprise platter". One day it is pasta, the next day it is veal parmigiano. You may not know which meal you're getting served today but even after you've eaten 40 tonnes of it, you are still sitting in the same Italian restaurant.

For me, surprise is about getting exposed to something new. That's why I love the web, the ultimate place to bump into new things. And that's why, in a more limited way, I like satellite radio for the car - because it is more convenient. For the trip to work I prefer to listen to NPR on satellite radio than to download a segment on my mp3 player every night.

My experience was that I was doubtful about satellite radio when I got it as a present and have grown to really like it in the following months.
Have you actually ever listened to satellite radio (for more than 5 minutes to try it out)? I doubt it if you seriously compare it to FM radio.

I think it goes back to the point of "total control". It sounds like you don't mind spending the time to surf around and put together your own selection of songs and podcasts so you get exactly what you want. I do that, too. But for the trip to work I rather waste a bit of my time listening to NPR or BBC or Bloomberg or the rock station from Quebec on satellite radio, even if it is not something I would have downloaded as a podcast.

Again, an mp3 player with the ease of use of an iPod and the addition of a satellite radio would be perfect for me. As long as that's not a reality, I am willing to pay for both.

iPods and mp3 players are great and sometimes glorified. They are a bigger commercial success than satellite radio. But they are rarely surprising.

Some great comments and dialogue. I often think of the singer who has a song that says about TV a hundred channels but nothing on. As you are still at the mercy of what is streaming at the time, you don't have the control.

I think that the introduction of music you may not own and might like is an amazing benefit of radio (satellite or other) and still has a place. I have a 60 GB ipod and don't have all the music I like to hear and am always being introduced to new music from others.

That aside, for me paying the $15/month plus the hardware cost is a tipping point even for me and I am never shy on buying gadgets.

I wonder if this will be like the cell phone where you will see two devices converge. In cellular you have PDA, email, web and phone. Here you might have all of those plus music or satellite radio - probably not, but how about a satellite attachment to my iPOD. That may be interesting or a TIVO for your Satellite radio.

It will be fun to watch.

Guys, great commens but you're all talking as if everybody knows and has the time to use an iPod. There is a massive audience out there that has neither the time, nor inclination to use an iPod. Even Stephen and Martin, two guys that are obviously iPod savvy, like the utility of sat radio.

(By the way, I own and love my iPod...even have specific playlists for the work commute, long-trip commute, end of night commute, kids sleeping commute..you get the point).

Nonetheless, sat radio provides more diversity than my iPod can ever give me, short of being plugged in and search the web all day long. Comedy, talk, sports, biz, etc.

In my ideal world, I would love to see sat radio and iPod/MP3 converge into one device.

One thing we all agree on...AM/FM is on its way out.

Best,
George

Two things stand out.
1-If someone just wants music an IPOD is the way to go. It's your music and it's cheaper.
2-If somone is looking at real time radio news and conversation then satellite radio is pretty good. What they have to do though is lower the cost to a couple of bucks a month and run ads aggresively. Their price is too high right now for the masses to justify for news and talk and since it appears SR can't afford to do this their only alternative is to start running ads. One wonders what this will do to terrestial radio and advertising as it will widen the alternative for the same amount of radio advertising spend to be spread around. Only a matter of time.

George - I disagree with your comment regarding satellite radio providing more diversity than an iPod. For example, I just refreshed my podcast screen in iTunes and have 39 new items to listen to totalling 15 hours of content. That content ranges from tech, to world news from newsweek, business news, wine reviews, etc., etc. In short, I stand by the initial observation that Mark has made that the iPod completely disrupts any potential value that satellite radio could provide. That is 15 hours of content that I have selected. You can't get that from pre-programmed satellite radio.