Computerworld: Will Apple kill satellite radio?

Yes

Two words: Howard Stern. Really, that and the sports program are what keeps me renewing my satellite radio.

This is a pretty absurd theory.

Satellite radio is HD quality audio. Streaming over a 3G connection in a fast moving vehicle? Please.

Secondly, why would FM transmission or bluetooth audio convince anyone to switch? One is a horrible way to transmit with extremely poor results and the other is completely unproven in the consumer market.

I've come to expect a little more from TUAW articles than this.

You can also check out Stitcher Radio for iPhone. Stream all your favorite audio podcast, radio programs and more on-demand. www.stitcher.com

Bababooey! Bababooey! Hey now! I've been a Sirius subscriber since 2005 when Howard Stern made his announcement. My opinion of Sirius XM in "these times" hasn't changed... I plan on being with them for as long as possible! So much better than FM radio and so much easier than having to connect my iPhone to the car, launch an app, etc... Long live Sirius XM and the Howard Stern Revolution! :)

PocketTunes on my Palm Centro made me abandon my plans to buy XM, plain and simple. What's the point?

We started out with 3 receivers on Christmas day 2003. What I've noticed since the merger is that SIRIXM has made no efforts to work on actual customer retention, in fact they have worked on the exact opposite. I am now down to just one Sirius receiver while my wife has XM that came with her car and we both agree there are a number of major problems impacting our enjoyment of either service:

- Killed off supposed "overlapping" programming on the fly, without notice and without offering real alternatives.

- Found a loophole to circumvent the government-mandated subscription fee freeze by charging for previously free Internet streaming.

- DRAMATICALLY increased the quantity of commercials and "happy DJ talk" on the music channels. This is a big one and doesn't seem to get as much discussion but for a *paid* service that is advertised as offering commercial-free music this is pretty unforgiveable. I understand that the talk can't be 100% commercial-free and that they got into tangles with Clear Channel who supply a chunk of their music programming which meant they were pretty much forced into inserting ads into the music but seriously folks, you can't charge us $12.95/mo at that point. Drop it to $9.95/mo or more to the point, give us that a-la-carte you spoke so favorably of during FCC/DOJ procedures. I'd gladly pay $1 or $2 per channel for the few I listen to.

As for the iPhone/iPod threat, ever since upgrading to a 3G iPhone I have found myself no longer listening to Sirius music channels in my car. Instead I created Pandora stations for the Sirius music channels I used to listen to. Upside: no commercials, no talk and 100% home-to-work-to-home coverage. Some people complain that their 3G coverage is much worse than satellite but for me in the metro Detroit area I have more dropouts with satellite radio with things like driving under an overpass than with AT&T's 3G. I would get rid of Sirius altogether but I still enjoy listen to Howard on my morning commute. Yet, I am starting to think that I could satisfy my need for talk radio in the morning by loading a few podcasts of shows I missed during the previous day onto my iPhone. That's $12.95+ I can put towards my $30 unlimited data subscription.

I think Sirius/XM is in serious trouble.

I canceled my sat rad sub because it was obvious Sirius stopped caring about customers. I followed the official sirius forums and the news waiting for them to post the line up changes and then it just happened with no warning. I didn't renew my sub for that simple reason.

I've been a long time XM subscriber, I can tell you what I listened to all the time: XM150, The Virus, the 70's and the 80's. Thats it.

Now with the merger, I picked up the best of Sirius package, and my radio hasn't changed off Channel 100. (Howard).

Adding features into a great phone on a shitty carrier (in my area) won't kill my subscription to Sirius/XM.

I've already replaced my Sirius subscription (after 3 years) with my iPhone.