Satellite Radio Coming Soon (?)

elucidus sent us a story that talks about the current status of satellite radio. Lots of issues to deal with, and some good stuff mentioned. Personally, I think this is just a baby step before we have full custom audio stream dropped in, but my guess is that it'll be awhile before we have the bandwidth to broadcast stereo audio, from space, customized for every car in America, and do it in such a way that it's reasonably cost-competitive with old-fashioned radio.

Comments

Whats the point?

[Kiss the Blade]

With the advent of digital radio in most countries meaning that it is easy to cram hundreds of stations into a very small bandwidth, and given the fact that the infastructure for this already exists, what is the point of moving to satellite radio?

Surely satelite radio is a step backwards, because it would not provide local content, as it inevitably has an international footprint, and uses up priceless satelite bandwidth which could be better used for something else?

KTB:Lover, Poet, Artiste, Aesthete, Programmer.

Streaming radio over wireless IP is the future...

[isaac]

Since getting 128k Ricochet wireless IP service, I've been listening to little else but streaming MP3 Shoutcast/Icecast stations. It's sweet to be able to listen to my old college radio station, streaming without wires to my laptop (I just wish they had a higher-quality stream than 24kbps - I can listen to streams up to 64kbps without a hitch.)

Once high-speed mobile internet service becomes more common, I expect to see streaming audio superceding conventional radio. These satellite audio broadcasting systems won't deliver enough bang for the buck compared to what mobile high-speed IP offers.

-Isaac