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XM-Sirius Merger Causes Greater Technological Confusion by Julia Hall
It's not unusual for new types of technology to cause confusion. After all, new technologies take time to learn about and for the initial users of the technology to help the companies that market the technology to work all of the bugs out of the new devices. One thing that people don't think about as much as the confusion that new technology itself produces is the confusion that the business side of producing and distributing new technology produces. There have been numerous examples of this, and one of the best ones in recent history is HDTV. Many consumers don't know anything about HDTV. It's constantly confused with digital TV, and the release of High Def DVD formats have caused further confusion among people who thought that old DVD's were already in HD format. The industry wasn't prepared for the lack of knowledge among the general public about the new technology and the assumption that somehow consumers would intuitively understand HDTV is still having negative repercussions for the consumer electronics industry.
Now, with the prospect of a merger between the satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, on the horizon consumers are in for a new wave of confusion. You would think that satellite radio would be relatively simple. After all, like satellite TV, satellite radios receive there signals from satellites that orbit geosynchronously above the Earth's equator. Those signals are beamed down to where individual radios sort them out. The result is a really clear signal with lots of diverse programming that in large part is commercial free.
Even before the merger was announced though, people found the prospect of subscribing to a satellite radio service confusing. That's because it has been tough to know which service offers the best combination of programming without trying them out, but once you get a receiver or have the receiver installed in your car, you're pretty much committed.
This confusion has been a deterrent from signing up for either service for a lot of people. They can't decide whether it's more important to be able to listen to Howard Stern and Martha Stewart or Bob Dylan and Oprah Winfrey. Another deterrent is that subscribers need to pay separate subscriptions for each receiver they have. A factor that makes many forgo the service entirely in favor of free terrestrial radio.
The merger could solve some of these dilemmas- at least the ones involving who to listen to- but are bound to create others. For instance, right now the receivers of each company are incompatible with each other. Although a standard for satellite radio format is in the works, it still hasn't been implemented and that could deter a lot of would be subscribers from signing up. In fact, since the merger announcement was made, a number of people have expressed concern about whether or not the receiver that they would get if they signed up now would still work after the merger.
On the other side of things, considering that the merger could take almost a year if it happens at all, both companies will probably see a decline in new subscribers because of uncertainties surrounding the merger.
The good news in all of this is that at least there's still terrestrial radio and it's still free.
About the Author
A leader in technology (http://snltranscripts.jt.org/cable/comcast-special-deals-.html) reporting, Julia Hall has published articles about the latest digital (http://snltranscripts.jt.org/cable/comcast-cable-promotion-.html) devices and gadgets for over ten years. After graduating from MIT with a degree in electrical engineering, Julia turned down huge salaries from some of the most recognized fortune 500 companies in the world to pursue his dream of becoming a leading consumer advocate. Julia uses her expertise to cut through the too good to be true deals offered by high tech companies to reveal the real steals and the real duds that we're bombarded with daily. If you enjoy staying on the cutting edge of technology (http://www.newtechnologytalk.com), whether for business or pleasure, but find yourself occasionally confused by the overwhelming information out there let Julia be your guide.
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