Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Am I really Sirius about this thing...

So I've got Sirius Satellite Radio. Yeah my guilty pleasure is Howard Stern, I don't feel so bad about it anymore after seeing Ira Glass speak about how he rushed out and got Sirius right away so he could keep listening to Howard. So I feel that it puts me in good company. Anyhow, I keep debating whether I should keep this thing or not. Sometimes I feel like it is just another subscription service and why should I have yet another when I've already got cable and DSL etc.. and the radio device isn't that great either. With traditional radio I can be anywhere in the house and turn on a radio and get the station I was just listening to downstairs or in my car or whatever. With this thing I'd have to wire the whole house if I wanted to pipe it into any room. God knows that's not happening anytime soon. Then the other thing that kind of bothers me is that they play all this great public radio stuff from stations across the US, how are those stations suppose to make money off of me. What I'm saying is that why would I give to my local public radio affiliate anymore. I'm not listening to any of their programming, where is their cash stream going to come from. I know the satellite radio market is tiny and probably currently has no impact on the locals but what if it does someday. Then am I just part of the problem that is making America this giant homogeneous place where everything is the same no matter where you go?

Ughhh...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I took this picture of Tony C's office while I was visiting last fall. I can't remember which device is the Sirius radio and which is the HAM radio and which is the DSL hookup.

I just remember, late at night, hearing Tony C whispering into the mysterious cosmic ether through his headset: "Whiskey. Romeo. November. Tango. Foxtrot. Zulu..."

biG

jb said...

It's the same dilema as "do I shop at the more expensive local market to help support them or do I go to Fred Meyers where stuff is cheaper and there is more of it?". It's a dilema we all face and most of us choose the latter. We are all part of the problem.
Paying for Howard Stern is just mind boggling to me. I would rip that thing out of my car and throw it off the Hawthorne Bridge just to get him to shut up, but hey, that's just me.
I suggest, shutting it off for awhile, and see if you miss it.
You could always take your monthly sirius fee and instead donate it to KBOO......!
If you find yourself after a month or so still missing all the lovliness that Howard brings to the air waves, then hook it back up.
I did that with cable. But I didn't last long. I am defenitely part of the problem as well........
But I do love CNN and those Friends reruns!
jb

Anonymous said...

Okay, seriously...is that a picture of a NSA office? What are all those devices?!

As far as guilt and culpability goes, jb is absolutely right. We're all part of the problem. You could always keep Sirious and donate to a few NPRs (your local station and one or two whose programs you listen to a lot). Of course, as part of the problem I just let a local fund-drive go by without contributing.

ka