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Said Mr Sim, "Actually, to me it's a big let-down: we're expecting a good fight but they're coming out with something that's five generations older... So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, -- it's worse than the cheapest Chinese player. Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. I think it's a non-starter to begin with."

I am not here to discuss your comment about the Chinese, nor am I here to bash you personally or your company. I am not even here to talk technical specs, because frankly the lack of a male USB port on your Micro Slim is currently the least of your worries right now.

You are undoubtedly a smart guy, being where you are now. You have sold over 2 million MP3 players last Christmas season, no mean feat at all (vs 4M iPod). There is no doubt that your company Creative is a successful one.

But let me ask you this: You have declared War, but Do you want to WIN this war? Absolutely demolish all that is iPod and steal all the glory? Well then read on because as it stands, this is a War you will live or die for. If you want to live, please consider my Two Cents:

1) Tip #1: Think like the underdog. If you want to be a market maker, you need to grow up and act like one. We all learned about "Perfect Competition" in school, how it meant that there was no excess profit and that the only way to get out of that bind was to differentiate yourself. Right now, iPod is winning because it is differentiable from you (brand name, iTunes integration). How are you winning? What is your battle cry?

For the last two years, Creative has acted just like the "Chinese" me-toos (as you so put down in your latest comment) while Apple has been the market maker through and through. Here are some examples:

When the first generation Apple iPod was released, you still were selling the MP3 jukebox ($480) that could not fast-forward or rewind (true), that looked like a spaceship (definitely), and still took 20 seconds to transfer a song (USB1.0). Quickly, your team raced to build a better looking version, after the success of the big iPod.

The success of the iPod touch interface was also "borrowed" on your Zen-Touch line. And finally, after the Apple iPod Mini was announced, you surprisingly announced the new line of Zen Micro's in 10 colors.

See, I like supporting the "underdog." I like supporting the brightest and most inventive minds. I support Tivoli Audio, Sirius satellite radio, I support many of OS X's small developers' applications, I support the Treo 600, Brian Transeau's music and a million gazillion other small companies out there with insanely great ideas. These are premium but differentiable products that people are willing to spend extra money on.

Make something special, Be somebody special. We want that for your kids right? So incorporate that into your technological children, the Muvo's and the Zen's. Because Nobody honestly lusts to buy a me-too product.

2) Tip #2: Make us shit in o

If you don't like paying on a monthly basis, Sirius is currently offering lifetime subscriptions for a set fee.
You just have to gamble that they'll still be around for the next 2 1/2 years to make it pay off vs. a recurring monthly bill. I went for this, mainly since I really don't like recurring monthly charges to my credit cards. I just hope I'm right.

I just went out and bought my Father the XM Delphi SkyFi at Circuit City and the Car Kit (tape adapter (yuck), cigarette plug adapter, and mag mount antenna.

I'm also going to get him an adapter from Blitz Safe which gives you a muchhigher quality sound. Basically it plugs into the proprietary CD changer port on the back of the factory radio and has RCA plugs (or a 1/4" phono iirc) on the other end.

When deciding between XM and Sirius I found this page to be a good comparison between the two.

Don't forget NPR along with National Association of Broadcasters has vehemently opposed community microbroadcasting. That coupled with the advertising is enough to keep me from supporting them ever.

As much as I enjoy (some of) their content I think its sometimes better to let something die to give something else the opportunity to fill the vacuum. Or we continue to limp along with the steady Clear Channelization of public radio.

I am not American but according to Andy Patrizio at Byte.com, Clear Channel stations all basically play the same songs and are full of ads?

Er, so why are you paying so much for them?

Get XM or Sirius radio - they're digital, they're commercial free or low commercial (depending on which one you choose), and they'er a lot less expensive than digital cable (at least on a monthly charge - the upfront equipment is another matter).

It appears that Sirius is totally ignoring everything but the car audio market, but XM does have some home products. Of course, if you're willing to hack then nothing is impossible.

Not sure that it's really a viable replacement, but it may be something you want to look into.

If you are buying the car tonight/tomorrow be careful about Sirius. If you aren't in one of these states you won't get service just yet:

We are currently supporting service in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, upstate New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Don't worry to much though, because -as of July- Sirius will be national. And they do have a nice introductory offer.

Does XM run ads?

Yes, XM Radio does run ads. That's why, if anything, I'm considering SiriusRadio (which has no ads).

Do we know how they pick their playlists?

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

Maybe if they can get enough cars to come with the hardware preinstalled, they have a shot.

That said, it would still take several years for any significant percentage of cars to have a satellite-radio receiver, as most sane people don't "upgrade" their cars on the same schedule that they upgrade their computers.

Ok, so XM Radio has one metal channel, playing wannabe metal such as Korn, Limb Bizkit, and Marilyn Manson. But, out of "100 channels", there's still not one that offers melodic death metal such as In Flames or power metal such as Helloween!? Bah. (And, FWIW, it doesn't look like Sirius fares any any better)

But, to their credit, XM Radio does offer BBC World Service, which is almost reason enough alone to sign up :).

There are several providers of satellite radio. The target market is mostly high end cars. Two popular ones are Sirius Radio and XM Radio. If I had the money, I'd love to give it a try. I believe they're subscription based, but it's probably well worth it. Has anyone here used such a service?

I read story in a Wired, but I don't remeber what month it was from. Anyways, Sirius Radio is going to be launching their satellites soon and they will be commercial free. Also, cars with radios ready to receive satellite audio are already being produced my many auto manufacturers.

I've been following this company for awhile(ever since it was CDRadio), and think they have great product. I thought they are a little small scaled, only dealing with commercial free car radio, and could've used their satellite systems for a wider scope(wireless PDA)

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