Ready
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I've been a Pandora listener for several years now and really enjoy the music they play. I voted for the songs I liked and disliked when I first started using it, and now I find that it really knows what songs I like and plays them consistently. If I don't like a song, a quick "thumbs down" vote makes it go away forever. How convenient is that?
I recently started listening to iTunes Radio. I get to listen commercial free because I was already an iTunes Match customer, so I get to avoid the commercials. The music is good, but it just isn't quite as good for me as Pandora. I find Pandora plays a lot more live or alternate versions, where iTunes plays the typical radio version of the hits, the same versions we've heard many times on the radio.
As for XM, I don't get where they are going. I have the XM hardware in both of our cars. I pay them $43.00 per year for the navigation traffic feeds, but otherwise I have no interest in listening to their channels. I don't care much for their music, and if I don't like a song they are playing, my only choice is to switch stations. There is no "thumbs down" button to skip to the next song. Their technology wasn't built to do that.
I guess this is all on my mind because my XM renewal just came due. My partner still likes it in his car, and he doesn't adopt to new technologies all that quickly. I showed him all the radio stations he can get for free using an iPhone, but he still wanted XM. The renewal bill for his radio was $160 for the XM Radio Select package, plus $43 for the traffic, so over $200 per year. Seems crazy to me.
So I go through my annual ritual of calling XM, waiting to speak with someone from India, telling them I want to cancel, and then getting the offers for the discounts to keep me as a customer. It took me 40 minutes to work through it, but eventually I got the price down on his radio to $80.00 per year, inclusive of the traffic. From $200 to $80, but 40 minutes of my time I'll never get back.
I just don't see where XM is going from here. It seems to have very little competitive advantage over the Iphone/Android apps, most of which are free anyway, and can be customized to play the songs you like.
What is everyone doing for their audio streaming these days? Am I the only one that thinks XM is just a huge waste of money and a dying product technology?
I recently started listening to iTunes Radio. I get to listen commercial free because I was already an iTunes Match customer, so I get to avoid the commercials. The music is good, but it just isn't quite as good for me as Pandora. I find Pandora plays a lot more live or alternate versions, where iTunes plays the typical radio version of the hits, the same versions we've heard many times on the radio.
As for XM, I don't get where they are going. I have the XM hardware in both of our cars. I pay them $43.00 per year for the navigation traffic feeds, but otherwise I have no interest in listening to their channels. I don't care much for their music, and if I don't like a song they are playing, my only choice is to switch stations. There is no "thumbs down" button to skip to the next song. Their technology wasn't built to do that.
I guess this is all on my mind because my XM renewal just came due. My partner still likes it in his car, and he doesn't adopt to new technologies all that quickly. I showed him all the radio stations he can get for free using an iPhone, but he still wanted XM. The renewal bill for his radio was $160 for the XM Radio Select package, plus $43 for the traffic, so over $200 per year. Seems crazy to me.
So I go through my annual ritual of calling XM, waiting to speak with someone from India, telling them I want to cancel, and then getting the offers for the discounts to keep me as a customer. It took me 40 minutes to work through it, but eventually I got the price down on his radio to $80.00 per year, inclusive of the traffic. From $200 to $80, but 40 minutes of my time I'll never get back.
I just don't see where XM is going from here. It seems to have very little competitive advantage over the Iphone/Android apps, most of which are free anyway, and can be customized to play the songs you like.
What is everyone doing for their audio streaming these days? Am I the only one that thinks XM is just a huge waste of money and a dying product technology?