Satellite Radio: Is it Worth the Extra Cost?
This isn’t even a new trend: satellite radio has been around for over 10 years now. The basic idea is this: you buy a quality satellite radio device ($100-500), and subscribe to radio stations the way you would to television stations.
Try it for yourself: browse some cool Satellite Radios at Macys.com (here’s a couponcoder.org’s coupon page for them!)
Then, you get high quality, commercial free music whenever you want. It sounds awesome…but isn’t radio free? And easy? What’s wrong with conventional radio?
Well, the answers are a little complicated: yes, radio is free if you have a radio already, but to pay for that radio you have to sit through tons of commercials. And there’s a limited selection of radio stations, as opposed to the thousands of stations on satellite radio.
Satellite radio is also becoming more and more convenient as well: satellite radios (along with free subscriptions) are being installed in new cars, so (for the 1 year subscription, at least) you can get a taste of what satellite radio is like.
The sound quality is also noticeably better. It’s not as pronounced as when FM radio came along and threatened the entire AM Radio industry.
Aside from all the industry controversy over radio vs. satellite radio, we would like to take a look at the situation from a pure consumer point of view. Does satellite radio improve user experience?
The answer is mostly yes. Satellite radio seems like a natural extension of the radio industry: giving people exactly what they want if they are willing to pay a little extra for it.