I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this blog post that I read this morning, which if you are too lazy to read (it’s short!), suggests that satellite radio will not survive our current recession, and in fact, may be gone before 2009 comes to a close. I find myself wondering if I should fish or cut bait with my subscription, because I doubt they will refund people once they go under. Additionally, I have wanted to install an iPod adapter for my car ever since I got it, and through internet research, the best option (especially in radio-heavy Atlanta) is to get an installed option. However, there is a catch; it requires the XM/satellite radio link for my car’s model, and I would have to give up XM radio. So… should I just go ahead and give up satellite radio and get my iPod ready for the drive, or should I wait and see how things pan out? I am not going to make any decisions today, or even this week, but I will be watching XM/Sirius to see what happens with them officially in the coming months. I may finally get my wish of iPod functionality in my car!!! But at a price… no more BBC Radio 1; I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
Tag: xm radio
music musings, shiny stuff
a little suprise
by duane • • 5 Comments
Last night, I was driving home from having drinks with a friend, and I was not in the mood for whatever CD I had in at the time, so I thought I would see what was playing over on trusty XM. A little background… I have had XM ever since I got my Acura, back in August of 2005, because it came in the car, and well, I guess it is one of those things that I COULD live without, but since it is BUILT IN, I have kept my subscription current. It does get annoying though, that some of the channels have commercials; especially since their claim is radio free of commercials. Well, for the most part, they are right, but there are a few that play ’em anyway. Overall, it’s alright, and not something I consider to be a deal breaker at this point.
Anyway, I was really excited when Sirius and XM merged earlier this year, because I have heard that Sirius has several channels that I might be interested in; specifically, BBC 1. My friend Deb got a new Jeep not too long ago, and she has Sirius built in, and she has continually fueled my jealousy that she gets BBC 1, because the programming is pretty great for someone that loves brit-pop as much as she and I both do.
Alright, sorry for the tangent; back to last night… I started flipping through the preset channels, and I notice that Upop (a BBC 1 knockoff) had been replaced by BBC 1!! Apparently, XM quietly changed all of their channels (some stayed the same) at some point yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier. I LOVE BBC 1, and it is just one more reason to keep my XM subscription now! As for the other changes, I haven’t really explored them yet, but if you are interested, here’s the 411 on all of the changes.
This morning on my way in to work, some slow guy called in to one of the channels, and asked, “what’s the deal with the channels?”, and the DJ told him about the changes in the line up and told him to check out the website, but apparently she overwhelmed him, because he couldn’t grasp why these changes were made. Some people just don’t get the technologies, do they?
Thank you XM!! Hooray for BBC 1 in my car, and in my life!
"pointless", is it just me?, music musings, music suggestion, the catch-all-egory, venting
let’s do a list!
by duane • • 8 Comments
Why the fuck not, it’s Monday, so let’s do a list of thoughts/gripes/excitements/etc why don’t we!?
- There are a LOT of albums coming out in the next couple of months that I am really, really looking forward to: Uh Huh Her, Jennifer Hudson, Lesley Roy, The Script (tomorrow!), Kaiser Chiefs (!!!), Jenny Lewis, Keane, P!nk, Jem, John McLaughlin, Will Young (!!!), Rachael Yamagata, Ray LaMontagne, and perhaps most importantly, Lady GaGa (AHHHHH!!!). That is a LOT of music coming in the near future that I am thrilled to get my hands on (and into my ears). What releases are you looking forward to?
- For the past month (give or take), XM has been playing nothing but Coldplay on one of my favorite channels, U-Pop. I found out the other day that there is another channel that is playing nothing but Coldplay as well. Now, I like the new CD, but I am not a fan of their previous stuff. Regardless, I think that it is extremely ridiculous to devote two full channels for a full month to a band like Coldplay; they only have 4 records out! WTF XM?
- Since I am on a gripe about XM, I want to know what the deal is with the commercials. Seriously, I understand them on talk radio, because those shows actually have breaks for commercials on the regular networks, so commercials are acceptable on those shows. However, XM touts themselves as commercial free, which is an absolute LIE. I want my $175 a year I spend on XM back if I have to listen to commercials, it just doesn’t seem right, to pay for commercial free programming, and then be lied to, does it?
- I feel like I might be the only one, but the fact that the Olympic opening ceremony cost a reported $100 million really bothers me. It was pretty and all, but that money could have been used WAY more effectively, even in China, where plenty of people live in poverty. I just feel like it was a lot of “showing off” for the rest of the world, and I really felt like it not only teetered on “excess”, but it was kind of a slap in the face to all of the poor people in China that really have actual needs that will last way longer than the 4 hour ceremony that occurred last Friday. It was, however, funny to see our dork of a president yawning and tapping his feet in boredom during the march-out of the countries participating. What an idiot to represent us to the world.
- As for the Olympics themselves, we watched the women’s gymnastics last night, and it was fun. I see this next couple of weeks being filled with wondering who wins what, and wanting to watch some of the events. I guess we’ll see how much we actually watch, because I get burned out on that crap pretty fast, really.
- I think that’s about it really. I really want Apple to hurry up and release a new ipod Touch for my birthday!