Time lists them here, including Vista, Zune, XM Sirius and Palm...

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1898610,00.html


Since Iridium technically failed in the 1990s, I would have suggested having PS3 in the Top 10. Oh well.

Merging XM and Sirius was a stupid mistake...hopefully the company won't go out of business.
I'm surprised more people don't sign up for it; much better than radio.

Furfur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Merging XM and Sirius was a stupid
> mistake...hopefully the company won't go out of
> business.
> I'm surprised more people don't sign up for it;
> much better than radio.


People are cheap. I'm cheap.

surprised to see youtube on there, considering its popularity. BUT in business terms I guess it is a failure as stated in the article.

Judge Crater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> surprised to see youtube on there, considering its
> popularity. BUT in business terms I guess it is a
> failure as stated in the article.

I think the online presidential debate pretty much killed any chance of Youtube being taken seriously.

obama girl was hot though

Under the HD DVD, " Blu-ray is still not a staple in most consumer entertainment systems."


Why is it on the list of top 10 biggest failures of this past decade?


Off the top of my head..The Multi-sensor Towed Array Detection System (MTADS)

They weren't saying blue-ray was a failure....yet. They were talking about the huge money spent on Toshiba's HD-DVD.

People aren't adopting Blue-Ray as quickly as when people switched from VHS to DVD.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2009 05:52PM by Furfur.

I know im asking why is HD DVD under attack.

Furfur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Merging XM and Sirius was a stupid
> mistake...hopefully the company won't go out of
> business.
> I'm surprised more people don't sign up for it;
> much better than radio.


I'm a cheap bastard, but for less than $0.50/day I can listen to 80's, 90's, metal, Howard Stern, ESPN, classic rock, CNN, FOX News, etc, etc and have little, if any commercial breaks. I'm really surprised it hasn't taken off more than it has - it's the cost of three carmel frappachino double whip tall grande extra foam triple expressos per month. But I guess people would rather get some queer-ass 600 calorie drink for $4.

No surprise that Vista, the Segway, and Zune were on the list. I would agree with WTL about putting the PS3 on the list.

Because of all the money Toshiba spent marketing HD-DVD, all the people that bought HD-DVD players....

Think Betamax versus VHS

+1 Especially when you can drive across country without changing stations....

Furfur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> +1 Especially when you can drive across country
> without changing stations....


Which I like to do at least once a week to stretch the legs.

I believe in the power of an MP3 player. My own music, no commercials, no station ads, no constant charges.

Warhawk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> No surprise that Vista, the Segway, and Zune were
> on the list. I would agree with WTL about putting
> the PS3 on the list.

reasons that i like my ps3

• it does have some awesome games (some exclusively for ps3: LittleBigPlanet and Wipeout HD!!!)
• plays my ps2 and ps1 games (i have the original with the REAL ps2 hardware in it)
• games are region free (you can play imports)
• plays bluray discs
• it will play just about any video file format because it tons of codecs! (hello bit torrent!)
• uses bluetooth and standard HID usb, so you dont have to buy a special keyboard, mouse or audio/microphone headset and you can use the controllers on your computer!
• takes just about any memory card type for file transfers
• connects to media server on the local network
• plays mp3, aac and other audio formats
• will rip CDs, get the info about them online and save them as mp3 or aac, both DRM free!
• will do nice looking slideshows for pictures (great for family showing pictures about a trip and such!)
• online play is FREE so you dont have to keep paying just to play games.
• built-in wifi for easy network access
• has a nice web browser (does Flash too) but it's only useful if you use a keyboard for typing addresses/posts/searches.
• has a built-in folding at home client which has rocketed the processing ability of the project
• online store uses real money (exact amount if you want), not the "points" bullshit on xbox
• you can buu fun games online for $2-$20 or PS1 classics for $10-$15
• you can buy some console games online which end up being $20 cheaper than on disc
• you can upgrade your console's hard drive without voiding your warranty or shelling out $180 for some tard at microsoft to do it for you. it's really easy too, only one screw to get it out and four on the mounting bracket! takes all of five minutes. i put a fast SSD for super fast load times. :D

the ps3 didnt fail and it's likely cost me less than an xbox 360 because ive had it for two and a half years and not had to pay for xbox live.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Agreed that Sirius/XM is great. Stern has never been better.

And regarding their merger, it would have been stupid if they *didn't* merge. The stupidity was in the government's treatment of the merger.

Eastsider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Agreed that Sirius/XM is great. Stern has never been better.



The Jack and Rod Show

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> the ps3 didnt fail and it's likely cost me less
> than an xbox 360 because ive had it for two and a
> half years and not had to pay for xbox live.


I have a PS3 and like it, too, but the fact is the system is a failure in the marketplace. Sony didn't anticipate the innovations of the Wii and PS3 is more difficult for game makers to develop games for than the X-Box. I have Madden 09 for PS3 and the thing is glitch-ridden.

Go to any game store and compare the volume of titles available for Wii or X-Box 360 to those available for the PS3. In fact, compare the number of new titles available for PS2 to PS3.

The fact is, PS3 is to Sony what GameCube was to Nintendo....an unmitigated flop.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gravis Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> > the ps3 didnt fail and it's likely cost me less
> > than an xbox 360 because ive had it for two and a
> > half years and not had to pay for xbox live.
>
>
> I have a PS3 and like it, too, but the fact is the
> system is a failure in the marketplace.

actually, the PS3 was a dual attack. it still fairs well as a console, people are making games for it and they keep selling more, just because they arent selling as much doesnt mean they have failed. however, it destroyed the competition in where big bucks are involved: bluray vs. hd-dvd. seriously, without the arrival of the PS3, bluray may have lost but with the PS3, bluray started a ripple that turned into a tidal wave of bluray buyers.


> Sony didn't anticipate the innovations of the Wii
> and PS3 is more difficult for game makers to develop
> games for than the X-Box.

true and true. however, Wii was targeted for a different audience, it's more of a non-gamer/children's console though they have begun to broaden the market. also, nintendo is famous for their innovations that seem like outlandish wacky schemes. seriously, they sold a zillion more gameboys by just offering them in different colors! the second screen on the nintendo DS is worthless in most games but people ate it up!

as for development, yes they xbox360 is easier to develop for because the cell processor is like a new way of thinking as far as architectural design. it's more of a growing pains problem like the PS2 had. also, much better tools are available for first time developers now.


> I have Madden 09 for PS3 and the thing is glitch-ridden.

glitches are a QC problem, hardly the system's fault. im betting there is a patch already which should automatically download and perhaps you dont have it yet. anyway, have you tried the 360 version of the game? im guessing it has similar issues.


> Go to any game store and compare the volume of
> titles available for Wii or X-Box 360 to those
> available for the PS3. In fact, compare the number
> of new titles available for PS2 to PS3.

quantity != quality. not every game is a gem for any system but i think the ps3 has a better ratio of quality games. however, i could be wrong, i dont know the numbers.


> The fact is, PS3 is to Sony what GameCube was to
> Nintendo....an unmitigated flop.

what are you talking about?! nintendo made a shitload of money off the gamecube. oh and guess what, the wii is a supped up version of the gamecube, so it cut down the development time of the console by a lot.

the ps3 is not a flop, great games are still coming out for it all the time and people are still buying them and it was vital for bluray's success.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

People aren't renting/buying Blu Ray disks. I go to Blockbuster and never have a problem getting Blu Ray. The problem with High Def DVD players is that other technology, such as on-demand and Internet-based services, are catching up fast. In a couple of years, DVDs as a whole are going to be overtaken by on-demand and online the way iTunes is making CDs obsolete.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> People aren't renting/buying Blu Ray disks.

clearly you havent seen the shelves at best buy lately. the bluray section has been growing and the dvd section shrinking. now it's about half dvd and half bluray.


> The problem with High Def DVD players is
> that other technology, such as on-demand and
> Internet-based services, are catching up fast. In
> a couple of years, DVDs as a whole are going to be
> overtaken by on-demand and online the way iTunes
> is making CDs obsolete.

i disagree because the quality of downloads/indemand always suck and you cant save them, you have to pay to watch them each time you want to see it. if we lived in a utopian world where telecom companies care about you enough to give everyone enough bandwidth to stream perfect hidef video with every feature that bluray provides and more, then yes, this would be the case.

unfortunately, your optimism reminds me of when i was working at GMU. a student that was in the lab working on a project and there was some guy's face on the screen. not knowing who it was i asked, "who's that?" and he replied, "Ron Paul, the next president!"


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis wrote:
"i disagree because the quality of downloads/indemand always suck and you cant save them, you have to pay to watch them each time you want to see it. if we lived in a utopian world where telecom companies care about you enough to give everyone enough bandwidth to stream perfect hidef video with every feature that bluray provides and more, then yes, this would be the case. "

There are ways to get top quality HD films consistently, for free, and in good time...though it's not quite legal =).

I do believe that the illegal route I'm referring to will be made into a readily available commercial product much like Apple iTunes is today (in comparison to Napster 10 years ago) - where you can go on-site and download any film or tv programme from anywhere in the world, in DVD or better quality, yours to keep forever more for a low, low price of $1.99 or something to that affect =)

DVDs are no good - watch any film on one DVD more than 15 times and you start to see glitches form. Stored on a hard-drive and backed-up - a film will never degrade.

britdrnva Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are ways to get top quality HD films
> consistently, for free, and in good time...though
> it's not quite legal =).

i understand completely but it's not streaming content which requires a significant amount of bandwidth.


> I do believe that the illegal route I'm referring
> to will be made into a readily available
> commercial product much like Apple iTunes is today
> (in comparison to Napster 10 years ago) - where
> you can go on-site and download any film or tv
> programme from anywhere in the world, in DVD or
> better quality, yours to keep forever more for a
> low, low price of $1.99 or something to that
> affect =)

it would not be that cheap. most everything on itunes is $1.29 which is a single song. to get the whole disk, it's not much cheaper than the CD and it's lower quality. i would expect $19.99 for a "high quality" movie which would mean it would be 1GB which doesnt do 5.1, have menus, features and all that jazz.


> DVDs are no good - watch any film on one DVD more
> than 15 times and you start to see glitches form.

uhh... are your DVDs and player from 1997 or something? o_O?
if there was a problem with DVDs like that, nobody would sell data DVDs.


> Stored on a hard-drive and backed-up - a film will
> never degrade.

until your drive fails and your backup gets demagnetized, unless by backup you are referring to a raid configuration. flash memory is the best (and still practical) method of storing read only data you want it to survive serious punishment like being stepped on, exposed to moisture and whatnot. however, i think you would want to use a better plastic if you want it to survive being baked in the sun.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Time lists them here, including Vista, Zune, XM
> Sirius and Palm...

Depending on the article and the year, anywhere between 60 million and 180 million copies of Vista have been sold, and all of those numbers came out around a year ago.

If that's a failure I'll take that kind of shit any day of the week.

So... Basically... What Time is saying is that Microsoft's failure is still greater than the most successful software release from any other company.

Makes sense...

boredom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> > Time lists them here, including Vista, Zune, XM
> > Sirius and Palm...
>
> Depending on the article and the year, anywhere
> between 60 million and 180 million copies of Vista
> have been sold, and all of those numbers came out
> around a year ago.
>
> If that's a failure I'll take that kind of shit
> any day of the week.

when millions of people are paying $50-$100 to NOT have vista on their new computer, the OS is a failure. there is a huge resistance to switching to vista both on the corporate and user level that never existed for any of the other windows OSes.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Furfur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They weren't saying blue-ray was a failure....yet.
> They were talking about the huge money spent on
> Toshiba's HD-DVD.
>
> People aren't adopting Blue-Ray as quickly as when
> people switched from VHS to DVD.


i dont understand moving to another physical data disk for movies/games... it should really be moving to digital virtual storage by this point, thats where it will end up anyways.

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> boredom Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > WashingTone Locian Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > > Time lists them here, including Vista, Zune,
> XM
> > > Sirius and Palm...
> >
> > Depending on the article and the year, anywhere
> > between 60 million and 180 million copies of
> Vista
> > have been sold, and all of those numbers came
> out
> > around a year ago.
> >
> > If that's a failure I'll take that kind of shit
> > any day of the week.
>
> when millions of people are paying $50-$100 to NOT
> have vista on their new computer, the OS is a
> failure. there is a huge resistance to switching
> to vista both on the corporate and user level that
> never existed for any of the other windows OSes.


if popularity is the sign of a good product and not just mass stupidity... then by god all of the lil wayne and Britney Spears albums that have come out in the past few years are fucking genious.

Kenny_Powers Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if popularity is the sign of a good product and
> not just mass stupidity... then by god all of the
> lil wayne and Britney Spears albums that have come
> out in the past few years are fucking genious.

a) you just railed against your first point of vistas sales popularity
b) the music industry/RIAA controls music trends because they can manipulate distributors (e.g. radio) and people go with it
c) microsoft also controls software/OS trends because they can manipulate distributors (and stop selling XP) and the latest move is to force vista
d) the fact that people are really resisting this OS and didnt resist the other OSes is a clear sign of it's failure.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Vista is a failure because despite the sales, Microsoft has basically decided to drop Vista with its new emphasis on Windows 7.

Youtube? I read somewhere that 2 hours of video is uploaded every minute. Bought by Google for how many billions of dollars. Sounds like a "fail" to me.

It's revolutionized video on the web. It used to be Microsloth WMV and Real. Now it's a standard Flash FLV. Youtube did that.

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kenny_Powers Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > if popularity is the sign of a good product and
> > not just mass stupidity... then by god all of
> the
> > lil wayne and Britney Spears albums that have
> come
> > out in the past few years are fucking genious.
>
> a) you just railed against your first point of
> vistas sales popularity
> b) the music industry/RIAA controls music trends
> because they can manipulate distributors (e.g.
> radio) and people go with it
> c) microsoft also controls software/OS trends
> because they can manipulate distributors (and stop
> selling XP) and the latest move is to force vista
> d) the fact that people are really resisting this
> OS and didnt resist the other OSes is a clear sign
> of it's failure.

Not to mention that computers ship with Vista pre-installed now. So, I technically bought Vista, although it's more like I got raped AND mugged at the same time.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

Furfur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Merging XM and Sirius was a stupid
> mistake...hopefully the company won't go out of
> business.
> I'm surprised more people don't sign up for it;
> much better than radio.

I agree... it's MUCH better. The stations around here suck.

Melissa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Furfur Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Merging XM and Sirius was a stupid
> > mistake...hopefully the company won't go out of
> > business.
> > I'm surprised more people don't sign up for it;
> > much better than radio.
>
> I agree... it's MUCH better. The stations around
> here suck.

+1

Just paid my subscription for another 2 years. Hope they last at least that long.

Top ten tech failure? The seizure of www.goatse.cx by the Christmas Island Internet Administration.

XM Sirius is a must have for anyone who loves music

While not a tech failure, Vince is certainly a huge failure in his own right.
Not to mention a huge cocksucker.

I used to really praise Sirius, but they took the punk channel off the air last fall, and now it's sorta ho-hum. The only reason I keep it anymore is for Stern. It is entirely lame to skip the punk genre. Their website says to listen to the 90's rock channel (Lithium) for punk- and sometimes it's not bad, but how many goddamn times do I wanna hear "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring, followed up by fucking Dave Matthews?? They also recommend listening to the Faction channel for punk, but that's all goofy nu-metal shit that makes you feel like you're a 15 year old listening to an XBox game soundtrack.

So fuck Sirius. I'll renew next month so I can pick up the Stern show, but other than that, I'd cancel it.

Dave Matthews lives on "Bong Hit Nation" on Sirius 17. That channel is programmed to be skipped on my radio,,,

LOL, I never turn on the jam band station either. Sometimes I'll listen to Hair Nation, all 80s metal, and it can be great for awhile- Ozzy tunes, Judas Priest, Ratt, amusing stuff like Quiet Riot, etc. But then they'll fuck it up with shit like some power ballad by Nelson, or Livin' on Prayer by Bon Jovi.

Good grief.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2009 03:28PM by TheMeeper.

Maybe some "Can you take me high enough?"

ITRADE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe some "Can you take me high enough?"



Oh, they definitely play that song.

Despite having a lot of talent for a supergroup, The Damn Yankees sure were lame.

God bless Ted Nugent.

It may be a failure, but I really like my Zune. I like it better than my 2 iPods I owned prior to the Zune.

freddy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It may be a failure, but I really like my Zune. I
> like it better than my 2 iPods I owned prior to
> the Zune.


Who would want an iPod when they can have a Zune?

People often confuse devices with superior technology as a success when they are, in fact, a commercial failure. Nobody would argue that VHS was better than BetaMax, but the fact is BetaMax failed in the marketplace. The same may be true for many of the devices on this list, including Zune, satellite radio and PS3. The fact is, though, they are all commercial failures as judged by the success of their competitors.

LaserDisc BetaMax Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The fact is, though, they are all commercial failures
> as judged by the success of their competitors.

i guess these are failures too because they arent the most popular:

• Firefox
• Linux
• Mac/OSX
• iphone
• Pepsi
• PowerAde
• Direct TV

it seems your definition needs some fixing.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2009 01:25PM by Gravis.

Eastsider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Agreed that Sirius/XM is great. Stern has never
> been better.
>
> And regarding their merger, it would have been
> stupid if they *didn't* merge. The stupidity was
> in the government's treatment of the merger.


If you dont know what you are speaking about - then don't speak. When the government granted the licenses to Sirius and XM (free of charge for the most part), it was done under two conditions:
!) They never ever ever ever ever merge. The FCC was quite clear on this.
2) Within 18 months of the launch of service, the companies had to have a unit on the market capable of using both services allowing consumers to switch services without replacing the equipment.

The dual unit was never introduced and they asked to merge a few years later...They majorly violated the condition of the license.

But it is all the government's fault, right?

Very true Radiophile...XM and Sirius never turned a profit BEFORE they merged.

They both had a business model that depended on low price so vast numbers of people would subscribe; but this never happened.

Also hurting satellite radio is the current car sales slump. Most of the new customers to XM/Sirius are from new cars equipped with satellite radio.
It seems only a small number of people buy aftermarket satellite radios.

Furfur Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very true Radiophile...XM and Sirius never turned
> a profit BEFORE they merged.

And they never will.

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Furfur Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Very true Radiophile...XM and Sirius never
> turned
> > a profit BEFORE they merged.
>
> And they never will.

never say never and never say die.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> FirefoxLinuxMac/OSXiphonePepsiPowerAdeDirect TV
> it seems your definition needs some fixing.

HA.. anyone who uses un-ordered lists in a post on FU is an uber dork.

Here's one.
.
Attachments:

VistaVille Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Vista is a failure because despite the sales,
> Microsoft has basically decided to drop Vista with
> its new emphasis on Windows 7.

Vista will still be supported as per the Microsoft Support Lifecycle.

Vista (without SP1 or SP2) has mainstream support until 04/10/2012.
Vista (with SP1) is not supported because SP2 has been released, but SP1 will be fully retired on 07/12/2001.
Vista (with SP2) will be supported for 24 months following the release of the next Vista SP or the end of support for the product. At present that is 04/10/2012.

I'd hardly call that dropping Vista. Focus will be put on Windows 7, which makes since considering that Windows 7 is the latest OS release. It is also not unusual for Microsoft to release a new OS even if the previous one is still in use, and/or popular. The operating system is built in part to showcase the capabilities of new and current Microsoft software.

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Radiophile Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Furfur Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Very true Radiophile...XM and Sirius never
> > turned
> > > a profit BEFORE they merged.
> >
> > And they never will.
>
> never say never and never say die.


Ok.

In the next 5 years they will not turn a profit.
In the next 5 years they will somehow tweak the business model to offer fewer channels, with commercials for free once you buy a $100 piece of equipment.
In the next 5 years, Stern will be gone or just repeats.
In the next 5 years, Donnie G will not have a Sirius/XM contract.
In the next 5 years-they will be losing just as many customers in a month as they are gaining paid ones

I am not a fortune teller and can not predict the future. I can, however, predict trends and their results. Based upon what we know today - I bet I have a 80% success rate in the above predictions.

Here's another.

.
Attachments:

Radiophile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> Ok.
>
> In the next 5 years they will not turn a profit.
> In the next 5 years they will somehow tweak the
> business model to offer fewer channels, with
> commercials for free once you buy a $100 piece of
> equipment.
> In the next 5 years, Stern will be gone or just
> repeats.
> In the next 5 years, Donnie G will not have a
> Sirius/XM contract.
> In the next 5 years-they will be losing just as
> many customers in a month as they are gaining paid
> ones
>
> I am not a fortune teller and can not predict the
> future. I can, however, predict trends and their
> results. Based upon what we know today - I bet I
> have a 80% success rate in the above predictions.


This will be the death of satellite radio...




Streaming Internet radio over 3G and 4G networks via iPhones and other smart phones. It's cheaper. It's more consumer friendly. It is to satellite radio what cassettes were to 8-track tapes.

I love Pandora! I had a launch.com account for YEARS, and it was so beautifully random... I was seriously pissed when they changed it without warning. Even more pissed off that I have not received a refund from Yahoo. Fuckers!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Being vague is almost as fun as that other thing.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Streaming Internet radio over 3G and 4G networks
> via iPhones and other smart phones. It's cheaper.

while it works on a small scale, if you were to move it to a massive scale (like making it the radio in your car), it would be catastrophic. simply put, the cellphone and other data networks cannot handle that kind of load as it has to handle each connection individually. on the other hand, satellite broadcasting can send a signal to a continent at the same time.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2009 11:38PM by Gravis.

www.radioparadise.com, talk about random.

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Streaming Internet radio over 3G and 4G
> networks
> > via iPhones and other smart phones. It's
> cheaper.
>
> while it works on a small scale, if you were to
> move it to a massive scale (like making it the
> radio in your car), it would be catastrophic.
> simply put, the cellphone and other data networks
> cannot handle that kind of load as it has to
> handle each connection individually. on the other
> hand, satellite broadcasting can send a signal to
> a continent at the same time.

The bandwidth isn't there now, but it will be.

Actually I'd vote for the mere existence of AOL - scourge of the Interwebz.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The bandwidth isn't there now, but it will be.

it's not only about bandwidth, the cellphone network can only handle a limited amount of connections which is why you get a "Network busy" message sometimes. They have upgraded the system a lot but as soon as you make cars begin to use it, rush hour will trash that network fast.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The bandwidth isn't there now, but it will be.
>
> it's not only about bandwidth, the cellphone
> network can only handle a limited amount of
> connections which is why you get a "Network busy"
> message sometimes. They have upgraded the system
> a lot but as soon as you make cars begin to use
> it, rush hour will trash that network fast.

It's about what the market demands. Pandora has 1 million subscribers. It is a model that is successful. It wouldn't take much for a paid service to be put into place to help underwrite the expansion.

I had both Sirius and XM. Both were a pain in the ass to deal with. With my iPhone, I can do streaming audio anywhere by simply plugging my phone into the radio.

If there is money to be made, this will happen. XM/Sirius is a failed business model. They could have everyone in the country subscribe to the thing and they would still figure a way to lose money.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's about what the market demands.

O RLY?! they had no problem with letting sunrocket tank because of lagging connections. simply put, there's nothing in it for them.


> Pandora has 1 million subscribers. It is a model
> that is successful. It wouldn't take much for a paid
> service to be put into place to help underwrite
> the expansion.

i think that's 1 million world wide, which is a drop in the bucket. if scaled up to say, 10 million in the US, i think there will be big problems. however, i dont think they want/expect to scale to or over 10 million users. though it works on a small scale.


> I had both Sirius and XM. Both were a pain in the
> ass to deal with. With my iPhone, I can do
> streaming audio anywhere by simply plugging my
> phone into the radio.

problems with pandora on the iphone.

1. requires an i phone ($200)
2. not integrated into cars
3. requires data plan: $10/month
4. has ads/commercials
5. rather low quality; 128kbps (aac? mp3?) audio.
6. only plays music

if you want just music, you can get a Sirus XM plan for $10/month which doesnt have annoying commercials.

im not saying it's not a good service, im saying it has rather large pitfalls.


> If there is money to be made, this will happen.
> XM/Sirius is a failed business model. They could
> have everyone in the country subscribe to the
> thing and they would still figure a way to lose
> money.

what is their business model? btw, companies have a way of adapting to changing situations and i think they will pull through in the end because their infrastructure has already been made and is robust enough to handle the entire nation listening all at the same time. cellphone networks are ok but they will fall apart under heavy load.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Is Pandora making any money? XM/Sirius have some genuine assets (satellites, subscriber base) and could probably be profitable if its debt load was reduced/eliminated through BK court.